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Annual Offshore Performance Report
to 31 December 2017
nopsema.gov.au
Safety and environmental performance of Australia’s offshore petroleum industry
Preface
Welcome to the Annual Offshore Performance Report published by the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA). This report contains data gathered through NOPSEMA’s regulatory functions covering occupational health and safety, well (structural) integrity and environmental management of offshore petroleum facilities and activities in Commonwealth waters (and coastal waters where functions had been conferred) to 31 December 2017.
Copies of this report are available to download at nopsema.gov.au or by contacting:
NOPSEMA Communications
GPO Box 2568
Perth WA 6001
phone: +61 8 6188 8700
email: [email protected]
© Commonwealth of Australia 2018
This report contains data gathered through the exercise of NOPSEMA’s regulatory powers and functions in Commonwealth waters (and coastal waters where powers and functions have been conferred) under the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006. The report is intended to provide general information only and its contents should not be relied on as advice on the law, nor treated as a substitute for professional advice. Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the material contained in the report.
NOPSEMA, on behalf of the Commonwealth disclaims to the extent permitted by law, all liability (including negligence) for claims of losses, expenses, damages and costs that may be incurred as a result of information in this report. Reference to the Commonwealth includes a reference to any contractor, agent or employee of the Commonwealth.
Preface
Contents
Message from the chief executive officer 2
Highlights 4
Introduction 5
1. Industry activity 10
2. Submissions and assessments 16
3. Incident notifications and reporting 203.1 Accidents 223.2 Dangerous occurrences 233.3 Uncontrolled hydrocarbon releases 243.4 Environmental reportable incidents 26
4. Fatalities and injuries 274.1 Total recordable cases (TRCs) 284.2 Injury groups by injury type 32
5. Complaints 33
6. Compliance monitoring inspections 346.1 Pathways to improvement – informing inspection focus topics 376.2 Inspection priorities for 2018-19 38
7. Investigations and enforcements 397.1 Investigations 397.2 Enforcements 39
Appendix 1 – classification of fatalities and injuries 46
Appendix 2 – injury groups 47
Appendix 3 – root causes 48
Appendix 4 – incident notification classification scheme 49
Appendix 5 – data tables 50
Glossary – acronyms and common terms 63
References 66
Contents
1 NOPSEMA
ANNUAL OFFSHORE PERFORMANCE REPORT TO 31 DECEMBER 2017
Message from the chief executive officer
Welcome to the Annual offshore performance report for the 2017 calendar year. This report includes information collected by NOPSEMA (and formerly NOPSA) in the exercise of its functions and powers within its jurisdiction from 1 January 2005 to 31 December 2017. The statistical information contained in this report has been obtained through the full range of NOPSEMA’s regulatory activities, including assessments, inspections and investigations. NOPSEMA publishes this information, collected under the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 (OPGGS Act) and associated regulations, as part of its role to promote compliance by the offshore petroleum industry and share lessons learnt.
In 2017, hours worked offshore rose to 12.8 million hours, a 31% increase on the 9.7 million hours worked offshore in 2016. This increase in offshore hours was largely attributable to the unprecedented level of commissioning of new liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities. During 2017, there were four LNG facilities being commissioned simultaneously. This level of commissioning was probably unprecedented in Australia, so the strain on the capacity of industry to resource this activity with skilled and experienced staff was considerable.
Despite this increase in offshore hours, there were encouraging results in a number of key safety indicators. For the fifth consecutive year there were no fatalities. The 293 dangerous occurrences (including false alarms) was the lowest number in a decade and the 52 injuries was the lowest number since the inception of NOPSA in 2005. This positive injury performance was reflected in the total injury rate of 4.07 per million hours worked, which was the second lowest total injury rate since 2005. However, four workers received major injuries in 2017, ending a record 15 consecutive months without a major injury occurring offshore. There were also six lost time injuries resulting in workers having three or more days off work. While the number of these injuries is well below the 2005 to 2017 long-term averages, their occurrence is concerning nonetheless. Digging deeper, there were also a higher number of near misses reported in 2017. Industry must remain vigilant and focus its attention on learning from these events to prevent future occurrences.
Preventing major accident events (MAEs) is essential to protecting the safety of people at facilities and the environment. The duty to prevent MAEs is a shared responsibility of operators, titleholders, equipment suppliers, contractors and the workforce. NOPSEMA also plays a key role through its compliance monitoring and the investigation of incidents in identifying situations where inadequate or failed barriers and systems could lead to a MAE. During 2017, NOPSEMA’s compliance monitoring and investigation of incidents identified more than 1348 non-compliances to be corrected through inspection recommendations. These non-compliances ranged from relatively minor opportunities for improvement to serious deficiencies that resulted in enforcement action. NOPSEMA pursued a range of enforcement actions including the issuing of 32 improvement and prohibition notices during 2017. These enforcement tools are well recognised as highly effective in driving a return to compliance. The enforcements actions issued in 2017 have ensured the correction of underlying issues in barriers and systems that were in place to prevent MAEs and/or major loss of containment events.
While NOPSEMA recognises the importance of preventing the potential catastrophic consequences of a MAE, the day-to-day personal safety of the workforce should also be at the forefront of all operations. The offshore workforce operate in a potentially dangerous environment and we owe those workers the safest conditions that can practically be achieved. NOPSEMA’s compliance efforts are aimed at ensuring that workers, and the marine environment, are kept safe from both MAEs and day-to-day hazards. Workforce participation is central to improving safety risk management on offshore facilities. The OPGGS Act requires ongoing workforce involvement throughout the safety case lifecycle and NOPSEMA places considerable emphasis on workforce participation during its offshore inspections. Ongoing workforce involvement fosters greater ownership of the safety case and confidence that robust arrangements are in place to protect them. The workforce must also be empowered to raise both safety and environmental management concerns with management.
Message from the chief executive officer
2
NOPSEMA continues to maintain that safety is the number one priority for every individual working in the offshore industry – executives to front line workers. Sharing knowledge and perspectives is an important component on driving improved safety outcomes. NOPSEMA is pleased to see the expansion of industry-wide improvement initiatives, such as Safer Together and the IChemE Industry Safety Centre. While NOPSEMA welcomes the development of initiatives like Safer Together, which provides greater scope for contractor participation, it is essential that individual companies maintain safety as their overriding priority. NOPSEMA expects to see such a strong commitment to safety demonstrated from senior executives through to operational staff.
Another area requiring increased industry focus is uncontrolled hydrocarbon releases. Uncontrolled hydrocarbon releases have the potential to harm both the marine environment and the lives of persons working at facilities. There were 29 uncontrolled hydrocarbon releases in 2017, which was the second consecutive year that the number of releases increased. Through its assessment and compliance functions NOPSEMA ensures that duty holders have comprehensive measures in place to prevent, detect, control and, when they occur, mitigate such releases. Where it is identified that these measures are not being maintained, NOPSEMA will initiate enforcement action to ensure a return to compliance. Throughout 2017, NOPSEMA inspectors issued multiple enforcement actions against duty holders relating to hydrocarbon releases. These enforcement actions required duty holders to take appropriate measures to rectify causes and put in place improved measures to prevent their reoccurrence.
In summary, while there are areas for improvement, the Australian offshore industry has generally done well in continuing to improve safety and environmental management performance over recent years. This improvement has occurred despite pricing and cost pressures which have led to a drop in performance in some other jurisdictions internationally. While the circumstances in Australia have some parallels with other countries, there are notable differences, particularly the expansion of the LNG industry, which mean that we’re dealing with a different risk profile and one that continues to change. The challenge moving forward is to remain vigilant, even for subtle signs that safety and environmental management performance is dropping.
Stuart SmithCEO - NOPSEMA
Message from the chief executive officer
3 NOPSEMA
ANNUAL OFFSHORE PERFORMANCE REPORT TO 31 DECEMBER 2017
Highlights
Facilities19 mobile facilities, a decrease from 20 in 2016.137 fixed facilities, an increase from 129 in 2016.
Hydrocarbon releases29 in 2017, an increase from 25 in 2016.
Environmentalreportable incidents 12 in 2017, an increase from 8 in 2016.
Fatalities & major injuriesNo fatalities.4 major injuries, an increase from 0 in 2016.
Injuries52 injuries, a decrease from 53 in 2016.
Accidents10 accidents, an increase from 4 in 2016.
Submissions to NOPSEMA194 submissions of key permissioning documents were made by duty holders to NOPSEMA. These submissions included:
• 109 safety cases and DSMSs• 40 WOMPs• 41 environment plans and OPPs• 4 PSZ applications
For details of the other assessments
submitted to NOPSEMA refer to Appendix 5.
12.8 million hours, an increase from 9.7 million
in 2016.In 2017, 75% of hours worked
occurred on fixed facilities and 25% on mobile facilities.
293 dangerous occurrences, which
is the lowest number since 2007.
53 enforcement actions were issued to 22 duty
holders in 2017.
8 complaints were received by NOPSEMA in 2017 an increase from 2 in 2016.
Total offshorehours worked
Dangerousoccurrences
Enforcementactions
ComplaintsInspections145 inspections were undertaken in 2017, an increase on the 143 inspections in 2016. Inspections in 2017 included:
• 93 occupational health and safety• 8 well integrity• 44 environmental management
Highlights
4
This report provides information regarding NOPSEMA activities and the activities of the offshore petroleum industry in Commonwealth waters and designated coastal waters where regulatory functions have been conferred to NOPSEMA.
The report also provides a high level summary of:
• submissions received and assessed by NOPSEMA
• industry activities and incidents
• NOPSEMA’s compliance and enforcement activities.
NOPSEMA uses intelligence gathered through fulfilment of its regulatory functions to inform the assessment of submissions. For example, information gained from NOPSEMA inspections and investigations may be used to inform an assessment. Similarly, the outcomes of assessment may contribute to the development of NOPSEMA’s ongoing inspections of duty holder’s compliance with the regulations. For more information about assessments and regulatory documents, see the ‘Safety’, ‘Well integrity’ and ‘Environmental management’ pages at nopsema.gov.au.
Data quality NOPSEMA has made every endeavour to ensure the data included in this report is accurate at the time of publication. Both the subjective nature of qualitative data and legislative amendments may have influenced the results. Data may vary as further information becomes available and any significant variations are noted accordingly within the document. Both numbers and rates are variously discussed throughout this report to provide clarity. ‘Rates per million hours worked’ is an industry standard, and is calculated by dividing the total number against the total reported hours worked offshore and standardising to one million hours. Applying this standard allows better comparison between operators and facilities and over time allows for the identification of trends.
Percentages are used in selected charts and data tables to assist with comparisons over time and to highlight proportions. Totals may not always equal 100% due to rounding (decimal points) or because not all categories may be included in the topic under discussion (e.g. often only the top five or six categories of interest are discussed to maintain brevity). Brief accompanying text is provided for charts and tables to assist in conveying the statistical information presented in this report. NOPSEMA cautions against extrapolation of the data.
The Regulator magazineThe Regulator is NOPSEMA’s quarterly magazine. It is intended to keep stakeholders informed of NOPSEMA’s activities and priorities, relevant legislative reform, and emerging industry issues. To be notified of the magazine’s online publication subscribe at the ‘Publications’ page at nopsema.gov.au or to request hard copies submit a request form at the ‘Publications’ page at nopsema.gov.au.
More publications NOPSEMA publishes its corporate plan, annual report, industry performance data, guidance on NOPSEMA’s approach to administering the legislation, safety alerts and other publications and reports at nopsema.gov.au.
Introduction
Introduction
5 NOPSEMA
ANNUAL OFFSHORE PERFORMANCE REPORT TO 31 DECEMBER 2017
WA
QLD
NT
SANSW
VIC
TAS
ACT
NOPSEMACommonwealth waters
Background – NOPSEMANOPSEMA is Australia’s independent regulator of health and safety, structural and well integrity and environmental management for the offshore petroleum and greenhouse gas storage industries. NOPSEMA’s role includes:
• working with the industry, workforce, stakeholders and other authorities to ensure the offshore petroleum and greenhouse gas storage industries properly control all health and safety, integrity and environmental risks
• independently administering offshore petroleum safety, well integrity and environmental management legislation
• promoting a legislative framework that encourages continuous improvement of health and safety, well integrity and environmental performance of the offshore petroleum and greenhouse gas storage industries
• developing its people, processes and systems to deliver efficient and effective regulation.
Our vision Safe and environmentally responsible Australian offshore petroleum and greenhouse gas storage industries.
Our mission Independently and professionally regulate offshore safety, well integrity and environmental management.
Our values Professionalism – we will be accountable, consistent, reasonable and act in accordance with the law.
Ethics – we will demonstrate respect and integrity in all we do.
Impartiality – we will make our decisions on the merits of the circumstances.
Leadership – we will be proactive, inclusive and decisive in our conduct as a pre-eminent regulator.
For more information on NOPSEMA, see the ‘About’ page at nopsema.gov.au.
Introduction (Cont’d)
Introduction
6
WA
QLD
NT
SANSW
VIC
TAS
ACT
NOPSEMACommonwealth waters
Our jurisdiction NOPSEMA’s jurisdiction covers all offshore petroleum facilities and activities in Commonwealth waters, as well as designated coastal waters where regulatory functions have been conferred. Jurisdictions where powers to regulate are not conferred remain the responsibility of the relevant state or Northern Territory (NT). Currently, Victoria has conferred occupational health and safety (OHS) and well integrity powers to NOPSEMA.
jurisdiction for safety, structural and well integrity and environmental management
Figure 1.
Note: State and Northern Territory coastal waters conform more or less to the Australian continent and associated islands. Commonwealth waters extend seaward from the edge of the three nautical mile limit of designated coastal waters, to the outer extent of the Australian Exclusive Economic Zone at 200 nautical miles.
Introduction
7 NOPSEMA
ANNUAL OFFSHORE PERFORMANCE REPORT TO 31 DECEMBER 2017
Duty holdersNOPSEMA refers collectively to the parties with legislated responsibilities under the OPGGS Act as ‘duty holders’. Duty holders include:
An operator of a facility: A titleholder:
The organisation responsible for the day-to-day management and control of a facility and its activities.
The organisation that holds rights conferred by an eligible petroleum title.
Operators are responsible for making safety case submissions under OHS related legislation.1
Titleholders are eligible to make submissions under environment management and well operations related legislation.
The OPGGS Act also places duties and responsibilities on other parties such as equipment suppliers. contractors, employers and the workforce.
Objective based regulation – responsibility rests with operators, titleholders, equipment suppliers, contractors, employers and the workforce (duty holders) The Australian offshore petroleum and greenhouse gas storage regulatory regime is objective based. Under an objective based regime general duties are imposed on parties to the regime, especially operators, titleholders and their employees. The principle underlying the regime is: the primary responsibility for ensuring health and safety and the protection of the environment lies with those who create risks and those who work with them. That is because these parties have the necessary detailed knowledge, decision-making authority and resources to ensure the management of the risks they create in compliance with the duties imposed by the regime. Objective based regulation:
• ensures that those who create risks are responsible for identifying and managing those risks
• is adaptable, flexible and scalable to the particular circumstances of individual activities and the environments in which they take place
• provides the opportunity for the offshore industry to adopt advances in technology and apply control measures that are best suited to the individual circumstances of the activity
• encourages adoption of best practice management systems and continuous improvement in all aspects of duty holder performance
• is recognised internationally by regulatory authorities, risk management professionals and academics as being the most appropriate regulatory framework for high hazard industries.
Introduction (Cont’d)
1 Other parties also make submissions under OHS legislation, for example, diving operators (diving safety management system).
Industry activity
8
Regulatory assessments By law, offshore petroleum activities cannot commence before the duty holder has demonstrated to NOPSEMA’s satisfaction that the relevant safety, well integrity and environmental management requirements will be appropriately managed. This satisfaction is achieved through NOPSEMA’s assessment of duty holders’ documented submissions, which must demonstrate that risks to OHS and well integrity will be reduced to as low as reasonably practicable (ALARP), and impacts and risks to the environment will be reduced to ALARP and acceptable levels. The key risk management regulatory documents submitted by duty holders to NOPSEMA are:
• safety case – covering an operator’s assessment and management of health and safety risks
• well operations management plan (WOMP) – covering a titleholder’s management of risk to well integrity
• environment plan – covering a titleholder’s management of impacts and risks to the environment.
NOPSEMA makes regulatory decisions according to the relevant legislation, NOPSEMA’s published regulatory policies and management processes. For more information on NOPSEMA’s assessment approach, see NOPSEMA’s ‘Assessment policy’ at nopsema.gov.au.
Ongoing compliance monitoringNOPSEMA monitors duty holders’ compliance with the duties imposed by the legislation and monitors their ongoing implementation, and compliance with, the relevant safety, well integrity and environmental management regulatory documents. Where non-compliance is identified NOPSEMA will, where appropriate, take enforcement action to ensure a return to compliance.
Compliance strategyNOPSEMA’s Compliance Strategy is a strategic policy document that outlines the compliance framework and principles applied by NOPSEMA in undertaking its regulatory activities. The strategy aims to ensure that offshore petroleum activities are carried out in a safe and environmentally responsible way by encouraging, monitoring and enforcing compliance with the law.
NOPSEMA’s approach to compliance is reflected in its regulatory activities comprising advice and promotion, assessment, inspection, investigation, and enforcement. The Compliance Strategy explains the linkages between these activities and how regulatory intelligence is used to improve safety and environmental outcomes. For more information on NOPSEMA’s compliance strategy, see the ‘Compliance strategy’ page at nopsema.gov.au.
Industry activity
9 NOPSEMA
ANNUAL OFFSHORE PERFORMANCE REPORT TO 31 DECEMBER 2017
2017 SNAPSHOT
1. Industry activity
NOPSEMA collects data relating to offshore petroleum activity via industry reports and submissions received, supplemented with other information.
156 active
facilities in 2017
Total offshore hours worked increased by
31%There were
40 active facility operators
Total offshore hours reported from mobile facilities was the lowest since reporting began in 2005
Industry activity
10
Offshore hoursThe total number of hours worked offshore in 2017 was 12.8 million hours, a 31% increase on the 9.7 million hours reported in 2016. Hours worked on fixed facilities increased by 44%, from 6.6 million hours in 2016 to 9.6 million hours in 2017. This increase in hours worked on fixed facilities can largely be attributed to the unprecedented level of commissioning activity that occurred during 2017. However, the 3.2 million hours worked on mobile facilities in 2017 was the lowest reported since reporting began in 2005. The reduction in mobile facility hours is the result of the low number of active MODUs and the shorter work programs conducted by vessels in 2017.
Total offshore hours worked
Figure 2.
FacilitiesNOPSEMA groups facilities as fixed or mobile. Fixed includes platforms, pipelines and FPSO/FSOs. Mobile are MODUs and vessels. Since 2012, total facility numbers have remained relatively static, with variation mainly in the number of active2 mobile facilities. In 2017, there were 40 active3 facility operators operating 156 active facilities – 137 fixed and 19 mobile. Pipelines remain the most common facility type, with 87 active in 2017.
Facility types
Figure 3.
0
4
8
12
16
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2016 2017
Num
ber
(mill
ions
)
Total offshore hours worked
Fixed Mobile
0
50
100
150
200
250
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Num
ber
Facility types
Platforms FPSOs/FSOs MODUs Vessels Pipelines Other
Note: a number of facilities reverted back to state jurisdiction in 2012
2 Platforms and pipelines are classified as ‘active’ if they are on NOPSEMA’s operator register and have an accepted safety case in force; however not all facilities may be actively engaged in hydrocarbon production in a given year.
3 Facility operators are classified as ‘active’ based on their submission to NOPSEMA of one or more monthly injury summary reports during a reporting period. Facility operators classified as ‘inactive’ may be registered with NOPSEMA, but not undertaking offshore petroleum activity in NOPSEMA’s jurisdiction in a given period.
Industry activity
11 NOPSEMA
ANNUAL OFFSHORE PERFORMANCE REPORT TO 31 DECEMBER 2017
Active facility operators (OHS)
Figure 4.
Wells In 2017 there were 919 eligible wells4 under NOPSEMA’s jurisdiction, held by 29 titleholders.
Titleholders of eligible wells (WI)
Figure 5.
Eligible wells (WI)
Figure 6
Industry activity (Cont’d)
0
10
20
30
40
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Num
ber
Active facility operators (OHS)
30 30 35 34
41 36
39 36
32 35
38 32
40
1520 20
23 23 22
29
0
10
20
30
40
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Num
ber
Titleholders of eligible wells (WI)
779 792 834 859 876 885 919
0
200
400
600
800
1000
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Num
ber
Eligible wells (WI)
4 An ‘eligible well’ is any well that has been drilled within a title area but not permanently abandoned. Eligible wells require continued regulatory oversight and titleholders must ensure that all their eligible wells are covered by an in force WOMP. An abandoned well is a well that has been made permanently safe and requires no further regulatory scrutiny for well integrity scrutiny (but may have ongoing environmental management obligations).
Industry activity
12
ACTIVITY MAP - 2017
Fixed facilities
Seismic surveys
Eligible wells
Industry activity
NOPSEMA ANNUAL OFFSHORE PERFORMANCE REPORT
TO 31 DECEMBER 2017 13
QLD
NT
SANSW
VIC
TAS
ACT
NT
2
10
452 54
TOTAL FIXED FACILITIES
739
9
1
TOTAL FIXED FACILITIES
4
1
12
1
27
TOTAL FIXED FACILITIES
64
1
1
87pipelines operating (up from 85 in 2016)
40 active facility operators (up from 32 in 2016)
919 eligible wells (up from 885 in 2016)
Facilitytypes
Note: This map does not include mobile facilities such as MODUs and vessels undertaking petroleum activity.
Note: there was no greenhouse gas activity in NOPSEMA’s jurisdiction in 2017.
Pipeline
FPSO
Other
Seismic activity
Fixed facilities
Eligible wells
WA4
8 27TOTAL FIXED
FACILITIES
5410
54
429
Figure 7.
12,754,394hours worked by the offshore workforce (up from 9,783,492 in 2016)
137 active fixed facilities operating (up from 129 in 2016)
19 active mobile facilities operating (down from 20 in 2016)
Platform NNA (not normally attended)
Platform NA (normally attended)
Industry activityIndustry activity
NOPSEMA ANNUAL OFFSHORE PERFORMANCE REPORT
TO 31 DECEMBER 2017 15
2017 SNAPSHOT
2. Submissions and assessments
NOPSEMA’s dedicated assessment teams, staffed by highly trained and qualified technical experts, apply robust, thorough and consistent processes to all duty holders and assessments to ensure the protection of Australia’s offshore workforce and environment. Under NOPSEMA’s jurisdiction, no petroleum activity can commence without NOPSEMA first ‘accepting’ the regulatory submission relating to the facility, well activity or petroleum activity.
103safety case submissions
41% increase from 2016
40WOMP
submissions
11% decrease from 2016
40environment
plan submissions
29% increase from 2016
4PSZ application
submissions
50% decrease from 2016
Submissions and assessments
16
Submissions and assessments In 2017 NOPSEMA received 109 occupational health and safety submissions, 40 well integrity submissions, 41 environmental management submissions and 4 PSZ submissions. The occupational health and safety, well integrity and environmental management regulations administered by NOPSEMA include specific acceptance criteria which must be satisfied before NOPSEMA accepts a submission. For example, the criteria for acceptance of an environment plan require that the plan demonstrates that the environmental impacts and risks of the activity will be reduced to ALARP and acceptable. In 2017 NOPSEMA accepted 87 safety cases, 44 WOMPs, 31 environment plans and 4 PSZ applications. It should be noted that some acceptances related to plans submitted in previous years.
Assessments not acceptedRegulatory submissions that do not meet the relevant regulatory requirements are not accepted by NOPSEMA. If a submission is not accepted then the operation or activity to which it relates cannot proceed. NOPSEMA will provide the duty holder with a refusal/rejection letter that contains information on which acceptance criteria were not met. Under the legislation, duty holders are entitled to make a new submission for the same facility/activity. In such circumstances, the assessment process re-commences from the beginning.
Assessments not accepted
Figure 8.
Assessment timeframesNOPSEMA is required to notify outcomes of each assessment within the legislative timeframes. The overall time taken for NOPSEMA to assess submissions is also dependant on the duty holder. For example, operators providing timely responses to requests for further written information and validation statements; or the time taken by titleholders to respond to opportunities for modification and resubmission, or responses to requests for further written information.
Assessments notified within legislated timeframes
Figure 9
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
Assessments not accepted
OHS WI EM
Note: Includes 'rejected', 'refused to accept', 'not agreed', 'not acceptable', 'not satisfied', 'declined'. OHS assessments include safety cases and diving safety management systems.
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Assessments notified within legislated timeframes
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
OHS WI EM PSZ
Submissions and assessments
17 NOPSEMA
ANNUAL OFFSHORE PERFORMANCE REPORT TO 31 DECEMBER 2017
Submissions and assessments (Cont’d)
Average safety case assessment timeframes
Figure 10.
Average WOMP assessment timeframes
Figure 11.
Average environment plan assessment times
Figure 12.
Average safety case assessment timeframes
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Revision
New
Time (days)
2015 2016 2017
Average WOMP assessment timeframes
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Revision
New
Time (days)
2015 2016 2017
Average environment plan assessment timeframes
0 50 100 150 200 250
Revision
New
Time (days)
2015 2016 2017
The average time for completion for new WOMP assessments in
2017 was 51 days. The average time for variations was
26 days.
The average time for completion
for new environment plan
assessments in 2017 was
119 days. The average time for revisions
was 111 days.
The average time for
completion for new safety case assessments in
2017 was 86 days. The average time for revisions was
44 days.
Submissions and assessments
18
Submissions and assessments
19 NOPSEMA
ANNUAL OFFSHORE PERFORMANCE REPORT TO 31 DECEMBER 2017
2017 SNAPSHOT
NOPSEMA receives notifications from industry related to a variety of different regulatory matters. Notifications most commonly relate to reportable incidents that are described under the OPGGS Act and its associated regulations. A reportable incident is taken to mean an OHS accident or dangerous occurrence, an environmental management reportable incident or a well integrity reportable incident. It is an offence of strict liability not to notify and report to NOPSEMA.
3. Incident notifications and reporting
No fatalities
10 accidents,an increase
from 4 in 2016
29 hydrocarbon releases, an increase from 25 in 2016
291 dangerous occurrences,the lowest number since 2007.
Incident notifications and reporting
20
Notification and reportingDuty holders are required to notify NOPSEMA of offshore petroleum incidents as per the legislation. Full reports for notifiable incidents are required. Additionally, duty holders must provide monthly summary reports as per the legislation. For operators of facilities (OHS) these comprise death and injury data, and for environmental management titleholders these comprise recordable environmental incidents.
In 2017 there were 342 reportable incidents covering safety, environmental management and well integrity reports. Each one of these incidents requires the duty holder to make a report to NOPSEMA. NOPSEMA reviews and evaluates every one of these reportable incidents and applies a triage methodology to determine the next course of action for each incident. NOPSEMA also receives complaints and investigates these, for more information see Chapter 5.
There were no fatalities in 2017. There were four major injuries – ending a record 15 consecutive months without a single major injury occurring offshore. There were also six lost time injuries greater than 3 days reported. The number of reported dangerous occurrences decreased by 3% from the 303 reported in 2016 to 293 in 2017 – an encouraging result given that total hours worked offshore were 31% higher in 2017 than in 2016. The vast majority of these reported dangerous occurrences were attributed to activating an emergency response to false alarms or inadvertent manual activation due to human activities.
NOPSEMA actively monitors with industry and the workforce to ensure that corrective actions are appropriately targeted and will hold duty holders to account for any identified breaches of their duties or responsibilities, (see Chapter 7, ‘Investigations and enforcements’).
Notifiable incidents Recordable incidents
These incident types must be notified as soon as practicable to NOPSEMA (according to legislative timeframes) and comprise:
These incident types must be reported to NOPSEMA on a monthly basis.
OHS Incidents EM Incidents OHS Injuries
AccidentsDangerous occurrences EM Reportable EM Recordable Injuries
Incidents where an offshore worker is killed, suffers a serious injury, suffers an injury or illness requiring three or more days off work.
Incidents that did not, but could reasonably have, caused an accident.
Incidents relating to an offshore petroleum activity that have caused, or have the potential to cause, moderate to significant environmental damage.
Refer to breaches of an environmental performance outcome(s) or standard(s) contained in the environment plan that applies to an offshore petroleum activity.
Injuries requiring treatment other than first aid e.g. serious injuries, lost time injuries, alternative duties injuries and medical treatment injuries.
Incident notifications and reporting
21 NOPSEMA
ANNUAL OFFSHORE PERFORMANCE REPORT TO 31 DECEMBER 2017
Incident root causesAs part of the legislative requirement for operators to report accidents and dangerous occurrences to NOPSEMA, operators must provide a root cause analysis as part of each report. This contributes to a better understanding of the factors influencing offshore incidents and informs improvements to design, training, systems, processes and equipment in support of better health and safety outcomes.
3.1 Accidents – 10 in 2017The category ‘accidents’ includes incidents where an offshore worker is killed, suffers a serious injury or suffers an injury/illness requiring three or more days off work. There were 10 accidents reported in 2017, an increase on the record low four reported in 2016. However, since peaking in 2008 the number of accidents has been trending downwards and there has not been a fatality at an offshore facility since 2012.
Accidents
Figure 13.
Accident basic causes In 2017, the three most common accident basic causes were: design (29%), work direction (24%) and procedures (18%). In contrast, the main causes for accidents in 2016 were attributed to lack of supervision and human error.
Accidents basic causes (OHS)
Figure 14.
Note: blue = human performance difficulties; orange = equipment difficulties.
Incident notifications and reporting (Cont’d)
Accidents
0
10
20
30
40
50
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Num
ber
21
34 32
47
41 43
29
21
13
7
12
4
10
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Accidents basic causes - OHS
2015 2016 2017
Design Work direction Proceedures Tolerablefailure
Humanengineering
TrainingManagementsystems -
people
Incident notifications and reporting
22
3.2 Dangerous occurrences – 293 in 2017Dangerous occurrences are incidents that did not, but could reasonably have, caused an accident. They are often indicators of underlying safety issues and it is crucial that operators identify and remedy the causes of dangerous occurrences. The 293 dangerous occurrences reported to NOPSEMA in 2017 was the lowest number reported in the past 10 years.
Annual number of dangerous occurrences reported to NOPSEMA
Figure 15.
Dangerous occurrence ratesThe number of dangerous occurrences decreased in 2017, despite the 31% increase in hours worked offshore compared to 2016. This decrease in the number of dangerous occurrences and hours worked has resulted in lower dangerous occurrence rates across all categories in 2017 compared to 2016. In particular, the rates for fires, collisions and potential injuries are amongst the lowest since 2005. Reduction in the rates of these types of dangerous occurrences is positive as these incidents can, or have the potential to, cause harm to workers.
Implementation of emergency response plans remain the most common dangerous occurrence. The vast majority of incidents that required the implementation of emergency response plans were the result of false alarms or inadvertent manual call point activation due to human activities. The rate for damage to safety-critical equipment also decreased. This reduction is important as safety-critical equipment is any component part of structure, equipment, plant or system whose failure could cause a major accident event.
Rates – unplanned events, damage to safety critical equipment, other
Figure 16.
Rates – fires, collisions, potential injuries
Figure 17.
Annual number of dangerous occurrences reported to NOPSEMA
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
0
100
200
300
400
500
Num
ber
133 173
231
357 307
346 305
383 356 348 365
303 293
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
0
4
2
6
8
10
12
14
16
0
2
1
3
4
5
6
7
8
Dangerous occurrences - unplanned events, SCE* damage, other
Dangerous occurrences - potential injuries, collisions, fires
Rat
e p
er m
illio
n ho
urs
Rat
e p
er m
illio
n ho
urs
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
Note: SCE refers to safety-critical equipment Note : Potential injuries refers to incidents that were reported under the categories 'Could have caused death or serious injury' and 'Could have caused incapacitation >= 3 days LTI'
Unplanned event - implement ERP Damage to safety - critical equipment Other kind needing immediate investigation
Fire or explosion Collision marine vessel and facility Potential injuries
Incident notifications and reporting
23 NOPSEMA
ANNUAL OFFSHORE PERFORMANCE REPORT TO 31 DECEMBER 2017
Dangerous occurrence basic causesThe top three most common basic causes for dangerous occurrences reported to NOPSEMA in 2017 were: design (20%), tolerable failure (15%) and preventative maintenance (14%). This is largely consistent with the main basic causes for dangerous occurrences in 2016, which were a mix of human performance and equipment difficulties.
Dangerous occurrences basic causes (OHS)
Figure 18.
3.3 Uncontrolled hydrocarbon releases – 29 in 2017Uncontrolled hydrocarbon releases are unplanned releases of oil and gas. They are a key hazard management issue for offshore petroleum operations and the industry must always ensure comprehensive measures are in place to prevent, detect, control and, when they occur, mitigate such releases. NOPSEMA requires that such measures are in place prior to the commencement of petroleum operations and continuously monitors operator and titleholder compliance with these measures. Where it is identified that these measures are not being maintained NOPSEMA may initiate enforcement action to ensure a return to best practice compliance.
Uncontrolled hydrocarbon releases
Figure 19.
Incident notifications and reporting (Cont’d)
0%
10%
20%
30%
Dangerous occurrences basic causes - OHS
2015 2016 2017
Design Proceedures N/A or none Work directionTolerablefailure
Equipmentparts/defects
Preventivemaintenance
Uncontrolled hydrocarbon releases
0
4
8
12
16
20
24
28
32
36
OHS Uncontrolled gas release OHS Uncontrolled PL release EM gas release EM petroleum liquid release
OHS and EM gas release OHS and EM petroleum liquid release WI loss of integrity gas release > 1 kg
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Num
ber
12
19
28
2324
32
28
19
25
33
2425
29
Incident notifications and reporting
24
In the first half of 2017, the number of uncontrolled hydrocarbon gas releases noticeably increased compared to the corresponding period in 2016. The majority of these releases were in the lower release category (>1-300kg) and were attributed to a single titleholder. NOPSEMA Inspectors took enforcement action5 against the titleholder to ensure appropriate measures were taken to rectify the most serious issues. In the months following NOPSEMA’s intervention, the titleholder’s performance markedly improved. For the remainder of 2017, the number of reported uncontrolled gas releases stabilised, with four reported in the last quarter of the year. Gas releases continue to be a concern for NOPSEMA due to their potential to cause a major accident event and/or harm persons.
There has not been an individual liquid hydrocarbon release greater than 12,500 litres since the Montara oil spill in 2009. The total volume of petroleum liquid released across the industry since 2010 is 64,014 litres, with many of the releases being contained on the facility or vessel. To put this volume of releases in perspective, the volume of an olympic sized swimming pool is 2.5 million litres; and the Montara oil spill resulted in the release of between 4.5 to 34 million litres of hydrocarbon liquid. However, any release is a concern due to the risk of ignition and potentially serious OHS and environmental consequences. NOPSEMA will continue to remain vigilant on this issue and ensure that industry is doing all it can to reduce the number of uncontrolled hydrocarbon releases.
The top three most common root causes for uncontrolled hydrocarbon releases identified by operators in 2017 were: preventative maintenance (36%), design (33%) and management systems – people (12%). All root causes relate to areas where industry can improve. NOPSEMA will continue to encourage continuous performance of industry preventative maintenance practices and management systems to reduce the occurrence of hydrocarbon releases.
OHS hydrocarbon releases - basic causes
Figure 20.
5 See OHS Improvement Notices 644-655 and Environmental Improvement Notice 638 at the ‘Published notices’ page at nopsema.gov.au.
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
2015 2016 2017
Managementsystems -
people
Quality ControlDesign Procedures Tolerable failure
OHS hydrocarbon releases - basic causes
Preventive maintenance
Equipment parts/defects
Incident notifications and reporting
25 NOPSEMA
ANNUAL OFFSHORE PERFORMANCE REPORT TO 31 DECEMBER 2017
3.4 Environmental reportable incidents – 12 in 2017The number of environmental reportable incidents increased from eight in 2016 to 12 in 2017. Seven of these incidents involved the release of either hydrocarbon vapour or petroleum liquid. All seven of these hydrocarbon incidents are included in the uncontrolled hydrocarbon statistics on the previous page of this report. Of the other five environmental reportable incidents in 2017: three were minor chemical releases, one was a fauna incident and one incident involving a potential loss of barriers or controls (categorised as ‘other’ in figure 21 below). Overall, the number of environmental reportable incidents continues to be low and, most importantly, these incidents have not resulted in significant environmental consequences.
Environmental reportable incidents
Figure 21.
In 2017, all environmental reportable incidents occurred during operations-related petroleum activities. This is likely reflective of the higher proportion of activity that occurred on fixed platforms compared to itinerant activities such as seismic or drilling exploration.
Reportable environmental incidents
Figure 22.
Reportable environmental incidents – by activity type
Figure 23.
Incident notifications and reporting (Cont’d)
0
10
20
30
40
Reportable environmental incidents
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
1712
812
31
22
Num
ber
Reportable environmental incidents - by activity type
Reportable environmental incidents
2
7
12
Operations Drilling Other
Num
ber
2015 2016 20172015 2016 2017
0
2
4
6
8
10
Hydrocarbon vapour / petroleum
fluid release
Fauna incident
Other Chemical release
Num
ber
Incident notifications and reporting
26
2017 SNAPSHOT
NOPSEMA compiles injury data from mandatory monthly reports submitted by operators to NOPSEMA. By law, the injury summary reports cover all fatalities, injuries, illness and disease suffered by workers offshore requiring medical treatment or time off regular duties. While injury rates are typically not an indicator of major accident events, the lowering of injury rates since 2008 should still be commended as this represents actual harm avoided and demonstrate continuing efforts by operators in keeping the workforce injury free.
4. Fatalities and injuries
4 major injuries,an increase
from 0 in 2016
Nooffshore fatalities
52 total injuries, the lowest
number on record
TRC rate 4.07 per million hours worked, a decrease from 5.36 per million hours worked in 2016
Fatalities and injuries
27 NOPSEMA
ANNUAL OFFSHORE PERFORMANCE REPORT TO 31 DECEMBER 2017
4.1 Total recordable cases (TRCs) – 52 in 2017The 52 total recordable cases (TRCs) in 2017 is the lowest number reported since the inception of NOPSA in 2005. TRCs (commonly referred to as ‘total injuries’) are calculated by adding the number of fatalities, major injuries, lost time injuries (LTIs), alternative duties injuries (ADIs) and medical treatment injuries (MTIs) reported. There was also a decrease in the TRC rate (which takes into account industry activity levels). In 2017 the TRC rate was 4.07 per million hours worked, a decrease on the 5.36 per million hours worked reported in 2016.
Total recordable cases
Figure 24.
TRC rate
Figure 25.
Fatalities and injuries (Cont’d)
0
5
10
15
20
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Rat
e p
er m
illio
n ho
urs
TRC rate
0
50
100
150
200
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Num
ber
Total recordable cases
127 123150
190
115
152
118105
6955
88
53 52
Fatalities and injuries
28
Total injury rate – trends by facility type from 2005 to 2017
FPSOs/FSOs Platforms Pipelines
In 2017, there were
4.09 injuries per million
offshore hours worked.
In 2017, there were
5.01 injuries per million
offshore hours worked.
In 2017, there were
4.40 injuries per million
offshore hours worked.
Figure 26. Figure 27. Figure 28.
MODUs Vessels
In 2017, there were
2.93 injuries per million
offshore hours worked.
In 2017, there were
2.02 injuries per million offshore hours worked.
Figure 29. Figure 30.
2005 20172005 2017
2005 20172005 2017
2005 2017
2005 20172005 2017
2005 20172005 2017
2005 2017
2005 20172005 2017
2005 20172005 2017
2005 2017
2005 20172005 2017
2005 20172005 2017
2005 2017
2005 20172005 2017
2005 20172005 2017
2005 2017
Pipelines are not normally
attended. There was one injury
associated with pipeline
activities in 2017.
Fatalities and injuries
29 NOPSEMA
ANNUAL OFFSHORE PERFORMANCE REPORT TO 31 DECEMBER 2017
TRCs – injury groups from 2015 to 2017The four bar charts below (figures 31-34) show injuries reported to NOPSEMA in 2017 against the type of occurrence classification system (TOOCS) used by Safe Work Australia: nature of injury, location of injury, mechanism of incident and agency of injury.
Total recordable cases - nature of injury
Figure 31.
Total recordable cases - location of injury
Figure 32.
Fatalities and injuries (Cont’d)
0
20%
10%
30%
40%
50%
Total recordable cases - nature of injury
Wounds and
amputations
Traumaticjoint and muscle injuries
Musculoskeletal, systemic and
infectious diseases
Fractures Spinal, intracranial
and nervoussystem injuries
Burns Unspecified
2015 2016 2017
The most common nature of injury in 2017
was wounds (42%), followed
by joint and muscle injuries
(38%).
0
Total recordable cases - location of injury
Upperlimbs
Lower limbs
Head andneck
Back (upper and lower)
Trunk Systemic Unspecified
2015 2016 2017
20%
10%
30%
40%
50%
The most frequent location
of injury was upper limbs
(38%), followed by lower limbs
(27%).
Fatalities and injuries
30
Total recordable cases - mechanism of indecent
Figure 33.
Total recordable cases - agency of injury
Figure 34.
0
20%
25%
10%
5%
15%
30%
35%
Total recordable cases - mechanism of incident
Hit by movingobjects
Hittingobjects
Bodystressing
Chemicalsand other
substances
Falls, tripsslips
Heat,electricity,
environmental
Unspecified(incl. other,
multiple)
2015 2016 2017
The most frequently reported
mechanisms of incident in 2017
were body stressing (27%)
and hitting objects (27%).
0
20%
10%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Total recordable cases - agency of injury
No-poweredequipment
Machinery / fixed plan
Chemicalsand other
substances
Poweredequipment
Mobile plant /transport
Environmentaland biologica
agenciesl
Unspecified
2015 2016 2017
Non-powered equipment
remained the most common
agency of injury (54%), followed by machinery/
fixed plant (13%).
Fatalities and injuries
31 NOPSEMA
ANNUAL OFFSHORE PERFORMANCE REPORT TO 31 DECEMBER 2017
Serious injuries Less serious injuries
4 – major injuries (MIs)
6 – lost time injuries ≥3 days (LTIs ≥3)
1 – lost time injuries <3 days (LTIs <3)
11 – alternative duties injuries (ADIs)
30 – medical treatment injuries (MTIs)
Result in hospitalisation, unconsciousness,
fractures etc.6
Result in a worker having three or more
days off work.
Result in a worker having one or two
days off work.
Result in a worker being assigned duties other than normal duties.
Result in a worker requiring medical
treatment other than first aid.
The sparklines below indicate injury trends from 2005 to 2017
Figure 35. Figure 36. Figure 37. Figure 38. Figure 39.
Increase from 0.00 in 2016 to 0.31 in 2017
Increase from 0.41 to 0.47
Decrease from 0.31 to 0.08
Decrease from 2.45 to 0.86
Increase from 2.25 to 2.35
NA
TU
RE
2 fractures (50%)
1 wounds (25%)
1 joint and muscle (25%)
3 joint and muscle (50%)
2 wounds (33%)
1 musculoskeletal (17%)
1 wounds (100%) 8 joint and muscle (73%)
1 wounds (9%)
1 fractures (9%)
1 unspecified (9%)
17 wounds (57%)
8 joint and muscle (27%)
2 musculoskeletal (7%)
2 unspecified (7%)
1 fractures (3%)
LO
CA
TIO
N
3 lower limbs (75%)
1 upper limbs (25%)
4 lower limbs (67%)
1 trunk (17%)
1 upper limbs (17%)
1 head and neck (100%) 4 upper limbs (36%)
2 back (18%)
2 trunk (18%)
2 lower limbs (18%)
1 head and neck (8%)
14 upper limbs (47%)
6 head and neck (20%)
5 lower limbs (17%)
4 trunk (13%)
1 back (3%)
ME
CH
AN
ISM
2 hit by moving objects (50%)
1 hitting objects (25%)
1 falls, trips, slips (25%)
2 body stressing (33%)
2 hit by moving objects (33%)
2 falls, trips slips (33%)
1 hit by moving objects (100%)
6 body stressing (55%)
2 hit by moving objects (18%)
2 falls, trips, slips (18%)
1 hitting objects (9%)
12 hitting objects (40%)
6 hit by moving objects (20%)
6 body stressing (20%)
4 falls, trips, slips (13%)
1 chemicals and other substances (3%)
1 unspecified (3%)
AG
EN
CY
1 mobile plant/ transport (25%)
1 powered equipment (25%)
1 non-powered equipment (25%)
1 machinery/fixed plant (25%)
3 non-powered equipment (50%)
2 powered equipment (33%)
1 unspecified (17%)
1 chemical and other substances (100%)
9 non-powered equipment (82%)
2 machinery/fixed plant (18%)
15 non-powered equipment (50%)
4 unspecified (13%)
4 machinery/fixed plant (13%)
3 powered equipment (10%)
2 mobile plant/ transport (7%)
1 environmental/biological (3%)
1 chemicals/ substances (3%)
Fatalities and injuries (Cont’d)
4.2 Injury groups by injury type – 2017
6 Refer to glossary for full definition.
2005 2017
2005 2017 2005 2017
2005 2017 2005 20172005 2017
2005 2017 2005 2017
2005 2017 2005 20172005 2017
2005 2017 2005 2017
2005 2017 2005 2017
2005 2017
2005 2017 2005 2017
2005 2017 2005 20172005 2017
2005 2017 2005 2017
2005 2017 2005 2017
Fatalities and injuries
32
NOPSEMA receives and investigates complaints about conditions and issues that may affect the occupational health and safety of workers at a facility, or the environmental management of an activity. In 2017 NOPSEMA received eight complaints relating to occupational health and safety. All complaints were followed up by NOPSEMA. All of these complaints where followed up either through inspections or investigations. At the time of publication four of the eight complaints received in 2017 are the subject of an ongoing investigation by NOPSEMA.
While NOPSEMA encourages members of the offshore workforce to first raise any health and safety or environmental management concerns with facility/activity management or health and safety representatives or committees, we understand that, for various reasons, sometimes members of the workforce feel uncomfortable in doing so. NOPSEMA addresses all complaints with respect and confidentiality and takes all possible measures to protect the identity of those who make complaints. Complaints can be notified through NOPSEMA’s dedicated incident notification phone line on (08) 6461 7090.
Complaints against duty holders
Figure 40.
Information provided to NOPSEMA – 33 in 2017In 2012, NOPSEMA introduced a new category of notification into its regulatory management system called, ‘Information provided to NOPSEMA’. This category is used when NOPSEMA receives information from stakeholders where, for example, the information does not form the basis of a complaint, the event is not notifiable under the regulations or it is unclear for what purpose the information is being provided. Prior to 2012, some of these notifications were included with complaints data, based on interpretation of the information provided. This is reflected in previously published data where there are a higher number of recorded complaints prior to 2012.
In 2017 NOPSEMA received 33 ‘information provided to NOPSEMA’ notifications. Depending upon the nature of the issue notified these were dealt with through investigation, inclusion as a topic in a subsequent inspection or other actions as appropriate.
Information provided to NOPSEMA
Figure 41.
5. Complaints – 8 in 2017
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
56
3 3
1
8
4
2 21
0
2
4
6
8
Complaints against duty holders
Occupational health and safety Environmental management
Num
ber
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Num
ber
12
31 34
49
22
33
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Information provided to NOPSEMA
Complaints – 8 in 2017
33 NOPSEMA
ANNUAL OFFSHORE PERFORMANCE REPORT TO 31 DECEMBER 2017
NOPSEMA uses its inspections to monitor duty holders’ compliance with the legislation and the commitments made in permissioning documents, such as safety cases, WOMPs, environment plans, diving safety management systems or diving project plans. Inspections also provide NOPSEMA with the opportunity to gain additional assurance that the implementation of risk management systems remains effective. In 2017, 145 inspections were conducted by NOPSEMA (covering a total of 231 facilities, titles and petroleum activities), which is an increase on the 143 inspections undertaken in 2016.
6. Compliance monitoring inspections – 145 in 2017
44environmental management inspections
were conducted
93 OHS inspections were conducted
NOPSEMA continued using
a risk-based inspection policy
for the 145 inspections
in 2017
8 well integrity
inspections were conducted 2017
SNAPSHOT
Compliance monitoring inspections – 145 in 2017
34
Inspections
Figure 42.
During inspections NOPSEMA inspectors identify areas where duty holders require improvement. As a result of the 145 inspections conducted by NOPSEMA inspectors in 2017, 1,348 recommendations were issued to duty holders.
Inspections also identify areas where duty holders are noncompliant with their obligations. Where duty holders are found to be, and there is sufficient justification, NOPSEMA takes appropriate and proportionate enforcement action to return the duty holder to compliance and improve OHS, well integrity and environmental management performance. During 2017 NOPSEMA took 53 enforcement actions – many of these related to non-compliance identified during inspections. For information on enforcement action issued by NOPSEMA in 2017, see Chapter 7.
When does NOPSEMA conduct inspections?NOPSEMA has the legislative powers to require access to offshore facilities at any time. NOPSEMA usually conducts planned inspections. Inspections are announced to ensure that NOPSEMA inspectors are adequately supplied with key documents and to confirm that key personnel will be available. Inspections are planned as NOPSEMA inspectors must undertake significant preparation to adequately inspect the complex systems and controls inherent on offshore facilities. However, if NOPSEMA becomes aware of a potential breach of compliance that could present a significant increase in risks, NOPSEMA can, and does, make arrangements for arrival on the offshore facility at short notice. Such short notice inspections occur within less than 3 days. NOPSEMA has also extended its inspection programs to include ad hoc short notice inspections.
NOPSEMA also conducts regular planned and unannounced inspections at duty holders’ onshore business premises. Such inspections usually involve the inspection of records related to offshore facilities.
0
25
50
75
100
125
150
175
200
225
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Num
ber
Inspections
OHS Well integrity Environmental
Compliance monitoring inspections – 145 in 2017
35 NOPSEMA
ANNUAL OFFSHORE PERFORMANCE REPORT TO 31 DECEMBER 2017
Inspection planningA wide range of potential scope items are considered when planning an inspection. Any number of these items may be selected for focus by NOPSEMA inspectors during an inspection. NOPSEMA inspectors prepare inspection scopes in accordance with the NOPSEMA ‘Inspection policy’ (available at nopsema.gov.au).
OHS inspection scopes Well integrity inspection scopes
Environmental management inspection scopes
When programming OHS inspection scopes, NOPSEMA inspectors employ a risk-based methodology that considers the following:
• relevant duty holder and facility-related risk factors
• previous performance and compliance history (informed by inspections, investigations, incident history and other performance factors)
• industry incident trends
• responses to recommendations from previous inspections
The NOPSEMA well integrity inspection scopes are designed to examine a titleholder’s management of well operations and their compliance with their accepted well operations management plan and duties with respect to wells. These are based on the accepted WOMP and the activities associated with the WOMP. Well integrity inspections are generally conducted in two parts:
• an onshore inspection at a titleholder’s regulated business premises
• an offshore inspection on the facility carrying out the well activity.
Programming of environmental inspections is undertaken using a risk-based methodology. The activities targeted for inspection are those considered to carry the highest environmental risk, including activities:
• that are a first for a titleholder
• involving exploration, development and production of heavier crude oils
• that overlap biologically important areas or habitats critical to the survival of threatened and migratory species.
Inspection reports and recommendationsNOPSEMA issues inspection reports and recommendations to duty holders based on findings against the inspection scope items. NOPSEMA inspectors must prepare and issue an inspection report as soon as practicable, which includes any recommendations arising from the inspection. Recommendations are issued to improve standards and to ensure that duty holders do not slip into noncompliance.
In 2017, NOPSEMA inspectors issued 1031 OHS recommendations, 261 environmental management recommendations and 56 well integrity recommendations. NOPSEMA uses a regulatory management system (RMS) to record and track recommendations, duty holder’s responses to recommendations and the proposed timeframe for addressing recommendations.
EscalationWhere duty holders are found to be non-compliant, NOPSEMA takes appropriate and proportionate action to improve OHS, well integrity and environmental management performance. Where appropriate, enforcement notices may be issued however, these notices will only be issued in accordance with relevant legislative requirements and NOPSEMA’s enforcement policy. For information on enforcement action issued by NOPSEMA in 2017, see Chapter 7.
For more information about NOPSEMA inspections, see the ‘Inspections’ and ‘Compliance inspections’ pages at nopsema.gov.au.
Compliance monitoring inspections – 145 in 2017 (Cont’d)
Compliance monitoring inspections – 145 in 2017
36
6.1 Pathways to improvement – informing inspection focus topicsOffshore petroleum exploration and production are inherently high-risk activities that must be appropriately managed to protect the health and safety of people while reducing environmental risks and impacts. Understanding the potential catastrophic consequences of a major incident, NOPSEMA has identified four compliance focus areas to guide its regulatory, promotion and advice activities:
NOPSEMA has selected these pathways to improvement in accordance with its Compliance strategy to facilitate improvements in industry performance across health and safety, well integrity and environmental management. NOPSEMA will explore the focus areas through three lenses: past (preventing old accidents), present (find one, fix many) and future (emerging trends). For more information see the ‘Compliance strategy’ page at nopsema.gov.au.
The above focus areas are reflected in our focus topics for annual inspections. These focus topics will continue to supplement broader compliance initiatives and will drive improved safety, well integrity and environmental outcomes.
Compliance monitoring inspections – 145 in 2017
37 NOPSEMA
ANNUAL OFFSHORE PERFORMANCE REPORT TO 31 DECEMBER 2017
6.2 Inspection priorities for 2018-19
Looking forward, here are NOPSEMA’s inspection priorities for 2018-19:
Compliance focus area Inspection topic
PREVENTING major accident events (loss of life, containment)
Aging facilities and assets – maintenance and end-of life concerns
Third party equipment and services – diving equipment
Third party equipment and services – helicopter operations
Safe isolation of plant and equipment
Loss of station keeping (mooring and DP) for MODUs, FPSOs and vessel facilities
PREVENTING AND MANAGING loss of well control
Assets and aging facilities – well barriers and aging wells
Third party equipment and services – well testing equipment
BOP systems (API Std 53) for MODUs new to the regime
IMPROVING effective incident response and spill source control
Incident investigation and auditing
IMPROVING oil spill response preparedness arrangements
Effective preparedness to respond to oil spills – timely source control
Effective preparedness to respond to oil spills – arrangements for dispersants
OTHER
Invasive marine species
Simultaneous operations (SIMOPS) for new, large facilities
Continual improvement in a low oil price environment
Planned waste discharges
Oil spill monitoring plan – implementation capability
Compliance monitoring inspections – 145 in 2017 (Cont’d)
Compliance monitoring inspections – 145 in 2017
38
7.1 Investigations
NOPSEMA will commence an investigation when it suspect, or becomes aware of, a potential non-compliance. Events that may be investigated include accidents, dangerous occurrences, reportable environmental incidents and complaints. Generally, investigations are initiated in response to incidents (that duty holders are required by law to notify and report to NOPSEMA). However, NOPSEMA may also initiate an investigation in other circumstances, such as in response to a complaint or from issues identified during a compliance inspection.
In 2017, NOPSEMA received and processed 342 incident notifications, some of which were escalated to an investigation. Twenty incidents that occurred in 2017 had a high risk category and were subsequently investigated as a priority. Of these priority inspections, 17 related to OHS and three to environmental management. As a result of these priority investigations NOPSEMA issued 27 enforcements. In addition, 121 incidents had a follow up decision to ‘investigate’ and were followed up at the next NOPSEMA inspection. A further 196 incidents were considered to have minimal risk potential and were not investigated in detail. However, the information provided by the duty holders, such as root causes and preventative actions in the three day and 30 day reports provided to NOPSEMA, is included in the data provided in Chapter 3.
7.2 EnforcementsNOPSEMA takes action to enforce compliance when it identifies non-compliance with obligations imposed by the OPGGS Act and associated regulations; or when it identifies the need for improvements in duty holders’ safety, well integrity or environmental performance. Enforcement action is also taken when there is an immediate and/or significant threat to the health or safety of persons or the environment.
In 2017, NOPSEMA took 53 enforcement actions against 22 duty holders. These enforcement actions comprised:
• 30 improvement notices
• two prohibition notices
• one direction
• 13 written advice/warning letters
• six requests for revision of permissioning documents
• one intention to withdraw acceptance of permissioning document.
7. Investigations and enforcements
Compliance monitoring inspections – 145 in 2017
39 NOPSEMA
ANNUAL OFFSHORE PERFORMANCE REPORT TO 31 DECEMBER 2017
Published noticesClause 80 AA of Schedule 3 and Clause 12A of Schedule 2A to the OPGGS Act requires that NOPSEMA must publish on its website a prohibition notice or an improvement notice within 21 days after the notice is issued. The provisions for publication do not apply to any other types of notices, letters or enforcement actions that may be issued by NOPSEMA or NOPSEMA inspectors. A prohibition notice ceases to have effect when a NOPSEMA inspector notifies the responsible person that the inspector is satisfied that adequate action has been taken to remove the threat to health and safety or the environment specified in the notice. An Improvement Notice ceases to have effect when the responsible person takes the action that is specified in the notice.
Published notices are not removed from the website when they cease to have effect. The purpose of leaving notices on the website is to enable lessons learned from inspections to be shared with other members of the offshore petroleum industry, which in turn assists the industry as a whole to improve its performance and comply with its regulatory requirements. NOPSEMA ensures that, as far as is reasonably practicable, all personal information as defined in the Privacy Act 1988 is redacted from the notice before it is published.
To view published notices, see the ‘Published notices’ page at nopsema.gov.au.
Enforcement and investigation summaryA summary of some of the key investigation and enforcement actions taken by NOPSEMA in 2017 is provided below.
Environmental management
Oil spill preparedness arrangements
While NOPSEMA focuses significant attention on ensuring the industry is doing all that it can to prevent a major oil spill from occurring. However, should an oil spill occur, it is critical that appropriate arrangements are in place to respond. NOPSEMA closely monitors the arrangements of titleholders to ensure that they remain ready should prevention fail. Prior to an activity proceeding titleholders must develop an Oil Pollution Emergency Plan (OPEP), which demonstrates appropriate preparedness and response arrangements are in place to provide timely response to an oil pollution event. A significant focus of NOPSEMA’s compliance function is ensuring that these arrangements are maintained to sufficient standards for the life of the activity. Where arrangements have not been maintained, NOPSEMA has taken a number of graduated enforcement actions to refocus titleholder attention and ensure that all necessary arrangement are in place to implement a timely and effective response to an oil spill.
Oil spill preparedness arrangements are more than access to resources and equipment. They also include:
• working alongside key stakeholders to maintain relationships and coordinate capabilities
• maintaining the competency and training of personnel
• development and implementation of systems and supporting tools to ensure optimal management of a response.
During 2017, NOPSEMA took six enforcement actions relating to oil spill preparedness and response in addition to inspection recommendations made in this area. This included one warning letter, two requests for revision and three improvement notices.
Investigations and enforcements (Cont’d)
Investigations and enforcements
40
The oil spill preparedness arrangement enforcement action taken in 2017 was related to the maintenance of trained and competent response personnel for managing response to a major oil pollution incident. Failure to maintain these capabilities can result in unnecessary delays in the implementation of, or incorrect applications of, oil spill response strategies and techniques in the event of a major spill. The enforcements taken in this area also related to maintenance and upkeep of plans and access to suitable oiled wildlife response capabilities.
Invasive marine species (IMS) management
Australia’s marine ecosystems and natural resources, and the economies and recreational activities that depend on them, face an ongoing threat of IMS introduction, establishment and spread. Once established, IMS can rarely be eradicated resulting in long-term, significant impacts on ecological integrity, the economy and social amenity.
Prior to a petroleum activity commencing, an environment plan must be accepted by NOPSEMA demonstrating that the risk of introducing IMS to Australian waters, where relevant, is managed to ALARP and an acceptable level. Potential vectors for IMS introduction by offshore petroleum activities include ballast water (water taken on and discharged by vessels to manage stability, balance and trim) and biofouling (accumulation of marine organisms on a submerged surface) associated with vessel and facility movements into and within Australian waters.
NOPSEMA’s compliance function has recently included a focus on management measures to prevent the introduction and establishment of IMS in the Australian marine environment for a range of different petroleum activities. Management of this risk pathway can be particularly challenging for the mobilisation of large, complex facilities such as hydrocarbon producing and processing facilities from foreign ports to offshore petroleum titles.
During 2017, there were two instances were NOPSEMA’s compliance efforts resulted in enforcement action for matters relating to monitoring and managing the risk of IMS introduction by offshore facilities and potential for transfer to sensitive environments via support vessel movements or natural dispersion. This involved the issuing of a warning letter and a request for environment plan revision by NOPSEMA. In addition, 23 recommendations on IMS management were issued in inspection reports.
Monitoring compliance of temporal and spatial extents of authorised activities
NOPSEMA monitors compliance of titleholders in a number of ways, including through inspections, and reviewing regulatory notifications and reports provided by titleholders during and following petroleum activities. This information is assessed by NOPSEMA to ensure that the environmental impacts and risks of an activity are managed to an acceptable, and ALARP level, as authorised by NOPSEMA in accepted environment plans.
Through this process it was found that there were some cases where petroleum activities were not conducted in a manner consistent with the activity described in the relevant environment plan. In these circumstances, titleholders failed to recognise that changes in the activity timing and locations may have resulted in the activity being undertaken in a way that was contrary to the environment plan accepted by NOPSEMA. During 2017 three letters of warning were issued by NOPSEMA to titleholders relating to their compliance with temporal and spatial extents of petroleum activities.
Investigations and enforcements
41 NOPSEMA
ANNUAL OFFSHORE PERFORMANCE REPORT TO 31 DECEMBER 2017
Safety and integrity
Operational integrity of contracted well test equipment
Well testing is a complex and hazardous undertaking which typically includes bringing reservoir fluids (including hydrocarbons) onto the MODU facility where previously there was none. Well testing presents challenges in managing contractors that are using temporary equipment packages over relatively short work campaigns, and managing multiple interfaces between the different companies and organisations involved.
In late 2016, inspections of two MODU facilities undertaking well testing activities identified that third party equipment (TPE) supplied to each facility was outside of its recertification and therefore the facility operators could not demonstrate it was safe to use. These inspections prompted NOPSEMA to include “third party equipment and services” as an annual operating plan inspection topic for 2017, with an initial focus on facilities undertaking well testing activities.
Throughout 2017, seven MODU facilities undertaking well testing activities were inspected in relation to this scope item. An additional two business premises inspections were conducted under warrant. The findings demonstrated a need for better planning and communication between all parties involved regarding contracted equipment. Particular areas of concern or non-compliance were found in the following areas:
• inclusion of all relevant parties in risk assessment activities during campaign design and planning
• independent validation of contracted equipment in accordance with established performance standards
• testing and certification of contracted equipment
• quality assurance checks of contracted equipment prior to facility operator acceptance and mobilisation, and post installation at the facility
• response to unexpected well conditions once work was underway.
To address individual inspection findings, NOPSEMA issued a total of 27 recommendations, eight improvement notices, one prohibition notice, one general direction, and two warning letters. In addition to addressing individual findings, NOPSEMA adopted a “find one, fix many” approach and engaged members of industry to identify solutions to this trend. NOPSEMA initiated an industry workshop in collaboration with the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association drilling industry steering group (DISC), International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC), and TPE suppliers, to provide an opportunity for industry and NOPSEMA to collectively examine better ways to manage the risks associated with well testing. The workshop included presentations and panel sessions on the following topics:
• regulatory requirements and perspective
• design and planning
• expecting the unexpected
• risk assessment, validation, and assurance of contracted equipment
• planning for change
• maintaining operational boundaries
Investigations and enforcements (Cont’d)
Investigations and enforcements
42
Members of DISC, IADC, and TPE suppliers have established a working group to deliver the following:
• A quality assurance/quality control matrix to define the minimum required documentation to accompany equipment going out to the facilities.
• A list of defined ‘hard stops’ to clarify scope boundaries for the safety case, and a strategy to communicate hard stops to all involved in the job offshore.
• Defining the worst-case boundary scenario for operations.
• Explore establishment of an Australian chapter of Petroleum Equipment and Services Association.
NOPSEMA presented this case study at the 2018 International Regulators’ Forum Global Offshore Safety (IRF) meeting. The International Regulators’ Forum Global Offshore Safety (IRF) members indicated that this issue affects the industry globally and is not unique to Australia.
Well annulus leaked gas-lift inventory from failed instrument line
In 2017, an incident occurred where failure of an instrument tubing line connected to a wellhead gas lift line resulted in the release of a significant volume of hydrocarbon gas from the production annulus over a period of three and a half hours, elevating the risk on the facility during the release. While initiation of the surface shutdown also closed the shutdown valve fitted to the gas lift line, this did not isolate the flow of hydrocarbon gas from the production annulus. The failed instrument line had been located on the gas lift line between the wellhead production annulus and gas lift line shutdown valve. The failure of the instrument tubing line was caused by fatigue originating at the tube to swage interface joint, which was the result of repeated bending of the tube due to sea/wind movement, leading to eventual overload and failure. The gas lift was not operating at the time; however, the production annulus contained a full volume of gas under pressure.
The location of the fitting for the instrument tubing line, between the production annulus wing and gas lift shutdown valve, created the potential for an unrestricted pathway from the failed instrument tubing line to the full volume of the production annulus. It was normal practice to leave the manually operated wing valve open to the production annulus, to allow daily readings of the pressure in the production annulus. This created an unrestricted pathway from the production annulus to the failed instrument tubing line, as the shutdown valve was not able to isolate the gas inventory of the production annulus. This configuration and failure of the instrument tubing compromised the integrity of the secondary barrier envelope and potentially resulted in a situation of relying on a single barrier envelope to control the well reservoir.
NOPSEMA’s investigation of the release extended to the operator’s other facilities and included an extensive onshore component examining equipment strategies and previous hazard and operability studies (HAZOPs). This process identified a common risk in the gas lift well configuration across more of the operator’s facilities, with other gas lift wells identified having small-bore tubing, instrumentation, and/or valve fittings fitted between the wellhead and gas lift line shutdown valve. As with the initial release, the additional facilities had no effective barriers to isolate the hydrocarbon gas contained in the production annulus in the event of a failure in the integrity of one or more fittings. Consequently, NOPSEMA issued 12 improvement notices to the operator, one for each of the 12 similar platform facilities. The actions identified from the operator’s investigation were noted and monitored for progress and completion against set target dates. NOPSEMA has been advised that the findings from this investigation have been applied to additional facilities outside of Australian waters.
Investigations and enforcements
43 NOPSEMA
ANNUAL OFFSHORE PERFORMANCE REPORT TO 31 DECEMBER 2017
Investigations and enforcements (Cont’d)
Dynamic positioning system error tolerance
During 2016, a vessel in Australian Commonwealth waters unintentionally drifted off-location while diving activities were being conducted adjacent to a hydrocarbon facility. The ‘surge’ button on the Dynamic Position (DP) console was unintentionally deselected via a double-press action, deactivating the ‘Auto Position’ mode. The deselection was thought to have occurred by the placement of a notepad on the side of the console. The vessel drifted over 40 metres, putting at risk the lives of divers working on the seabed.
Following an investigation, NOPSEMA published a safety alert describing the incident and highlighting the importance of error tolerance in safety critical control systems. This publication prompted the US Coast Guard and the UK Health and Safety Executive to alert NOPSEMA to loss of position incidents with similar causes in their jurisdictions.
To generate a more comprehensive view of the issue, in 2017 NOPSEMA reviewed a DP incident data set covering a 15-year period. An additional 14 similar loss of position incidents were identified, suggesting that the frequency of unintended deactivation of DP systems is significantly greater when viewed from an international perspective rather than a single jurisdiction, as is the risk of loss of life.
In September 2017, NOPSEMA wrote to seven DP system manufactures providing them with an opportunity to contribute to ongoing discussions regarding error tolerance of DP Systems. To date three manufacturers have responded with recognition of the vulnerabilities of double-press buttons, describing the use of touch screen interfaces, confirmation dialogue boxes, audio feedback and/or alarms as means to reduce the likelihood of inadvertent DP mode changes.
At the International Regulators Forum (IRF) Meeting in October 2017, NOPSEMA presented the latest information on this issue and noted responses from manufacturers which showed measures to reduce risk are available, but are not necessarily widely known or adopted. The IRF member countries recognised that this is a global challenge, and agreed to take action appropriate to their regulatory regime.
The operator of the vessel facility involved in the 2016 incident had classified the probability of this type of event as “Unlikely”, where “a rare combination of factors would be required for an incident to result”. Analysis of the global dataset and communications with IRF members contradicts this classification. The frequency of unintended deactivation of DP systems indicates a larger probability, requiring the application of further control measures to mitigate the risk. NOPSEMA will continue efforts to improve DP controls in 2018. An assessment of the degree to which vessel facility operators in Australia have identified and addressed this risk on their facilities is underway. Where risk has not been appropriately addressed, NOPSEMA will act to ensure that the risk of inadvertent DP deactivation is reduced to a level that is ALARP.
Investigations and enforcements
44
Appendices
Appendices
45 NOPSEMA
ANNUAL OFFSHORE PERFORMANCE REPORT TO 31 DECEMBER 2017
In accordance with SCAP 905 & Australian Standard AS1885.1-1990:
Code Category Definition
FT Fatality Any work-related death that occurs within one year of the incident:
• includes missing persons
• does not include fatalities that are due to natural causes.
MI Major injury Any work related injury that results in:
• amputation: includes whole or partial amputation of parts of the body (does not include loss of fleshy tip of finger, nail, or tooth)
• skeletal injuries: includes bone fractures (including chipped or cracked bone or hairline fractures) and dislocation
• burns: only if the injured person becomes unconscious, is admitted to hospital, or requires resuscitation
• injuries to internal organs: only if the injured person becomes unconscious, is admitted to hospital, or requires resuscitation
• eye injuries resulting in loss of sight (permanent or temporary)• eye injuries resulting in a penetrating eye injury or a chemical or
hot metal burn to the eye• any acute illness caused by exposure to harmful chemicals or
biological agents and physiological effects e.g. decompression illness, loss of hearing, and radiation sickness
• hypothermia or heat-induced illness (unconsciousness)• any injury resulting in unconsciousness, resuscitation, or
admittance to hospital.
LTI ≥ 3 Lost time injury ≥3 days Any work-related injury (other than a ‘major injury’) which results in a person being unfit for work on any day7 after the day of occurrence of the injury and remains off work for three days or more.
LTI <3 Lost time injury <3 days Any work-related injury (other than a ‘major injury’) which results in a person being unfit for work on any day 8 after the day of occurrence of the injury and remains off work for one or more days but less than three days.
ADI Alternative duties injury Any work-related injury (other than a ‘major injury’) which results in a person being unfit for full performance of their regular job on any day after the occupational injury. Work performed might be: an assignment to a temporary job, part-time work at the regular job or working full-time in the regular job, but not performing all the usual duties of the job. Where no meaningful work is being performed, the incident should be recorded as a lost workday case.
MTI Medical treatment injury Cases that are not severe enough to result in lost work day cases or alternative duty cases but are more severe than requiring simple first aid treatment.
Note: For more information about these codes and categories, see NOPSEMA’s guidelines – ‘N0300 – GL0033 – Guideline on monthly reporting – deaths and injuries’ under the ‘Safety - Reporting Accidents and Dangerous Occurrences – Forms – Monthly Summary Report’ at nopsema.gov.au.
Appendix 1 – classification of fatalities and injuries
7 ‘Any day’ includes rest days, weekend days, leave days, public holidays, or days after ceasing employment.
8 ‘Any day’ includes rest days, weekend days, leave days, public holidays, or days after ceasing employment.
Appendices
46
Group code Group name Category Category name
TRCs Total recordable cases FT Fatality
MI Major injury
LTI ≥3 days Lost time injury of three or more days
LTI <3 Lost time injury of less than three days
ADI Alternative duties injury
MTI Medical treatment injury
LTIs Lost time injuries LTI ≥3 days Lost time injury of three or more days
LTI <3 days Lost time injury of less than three days
MTI Medical Treatment Injury MTI See Guidance –GL0033
ADI Alternative Duty Injury ADI See Guidance –GL0033
Note: For more information about these codes and categories, see NOPSEMA’s guidelines – ‘N0300 – GL0033 – Guideline on monthly reporting – deaths and injuries’ under the ‘Safety - Reporting Accidents and Dangerous Occurrences – Forms – Monthly Summary Report’ at nopsema.gov.au.
Appendix 2 – injury groups
Appendices
47 NOPSEMA
ANNUAL OFFSHORE PERFORMANCE REPORT TO 31 DECEMBER 2017
The following definitions of root cause categories are summarised and adapted from the TapRoot Root Cause Tree Dictionary. They are provided for general information only and do not represent a complete or exhaustive definition of each category.
Root causes
Equipment difficulty
Design A design problem caused the equipment to fail, where design was conducted in-house, or where in-house engineers participated in the design.
Equipment parts/defects
Parts or equipment were defective before installation due to problems in manufacturing, procurement, shipping and handling, storage, and/or quality assurance.
Management systems - equipment
Failure to implement effective corrective actions for known deficiencies.
Preventive maintenance
Equipment difficulty could have been prevented had a sound preventative maintenance plan been in place
Tolerable failure Category reserved for failures that are of such low consequence and frequency that corrective actions are not deemed necessary.
Human performance difficulty
Communications Lack of communication, or communication error, between people performing work, or between supervisor and personnel.
Human engineering
An issue was caused by poor or undesirable human factors engineering and/or ergonomics; namely, human-machine interface problems, poor work environment, system complexity, non-fault tolerant system.
Management systems - people
An issue could have been prevented through better standards, policies, or administrative controls; or through appropriate use of existing standards, policies, and administrative controls.
Procedures Performance would have improved with the use of a well-written procedure.
Quality control Formal, independent inspection of work was not conducted, or was poorly conducted.
Training Performance would have improved had the person received better training in task understanding, skill development, or maintenance of skill and knowledge.
Work direction An issue could have been prevented through reasonable preparation and supervision of work.
Other N/A or none Operator did not identify root cause or was not applicable for the incident.
The root cause is not provided for in the other categories.
Appendix 3 – root causes
Appendices
48
Incident type
OHS incidents Accidents • Death or serious injury• Incapacitation ≥3 days LTI
Dangerous occurrences
• Could have caused death or serious injury• Could have caused incapacitation ≥3 days LTI• Fire or explosion• Collision – marine vessel and facility• Uncontrolled HC release >1-300 kg• Uncontrolled HC release >300 kg• Uncontrolled PL release >80-12 500 L• Uncontrolled PL release >12 500 L • Unplanned event – implement ERP• Damage to safety-critical equipment• Other kind needing immediate investigation• Pipeline – kind needing immediate• Investigation• Pipeline – substantial risk of accident• Pipeline – significant damage• Well kick >50 barrels
Well integrity incidents
Communications • Loss of integrity - >1 kg gas released• Loss of integrity - >80 L liquid released• Failure of hydrostatic pressure - BOP closure and positive
well pressure• Loss of integrity - well-related equipment damage or failure• Potential loss of integrity - well-related equipment damage/failure• Loss of well control - any other unplanned occurrence
Environmental incidents
Reportable • Hydrocarbon vapour/petroleum fluid release• Chemical release• Drilling fluid/mud release• Fauna incident• Matters protected under Part 3 of the EPBC Act• Other
Recordable • Non-hydrocarbon air emissions• Hydrocarbon gas release/air emissions• Hydrocarbon spill <80 L• Chemical spill• Other unplanned liquid discharge• Spill to deck – no discharge to marine environment• Non-conformance with planned discharge • Solid waste discharge/dropped object • Injury or death – fauna• Seabed/benthic damage• Equipment not functioning• Breach of procedural control• Other
Appendix 4 – incident notification classification scheme
Appendices
49 NOPSEMA
ANNUAL OFFSHORE PERFORMANCE REPORT TO 31 DECEMBER 2017
1 In
dust
ry a
ctiv
ity
Act
ive
du
tyh
old
ers
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
Faci
lity
oper
ator
s (O
HS
)30
3035
3441
3639
3632
3538
3240
Act
ive
faci
lity
typ
es
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
Pla
tfor
ms
5454
5355
6058
5732
3132
2634
34
FPS
Os/
FSO
s12
1314
1414
1514
1311
1113
1011
MO
DU
s16
1314
1519
1416
1212
1211
85
Vess
els
109
1112
1710
1314
1217
1712
14
Pip
elin
es6
1668
6870
110
109
8083
7681
8587
Oth
er5
TO
TAL
9810
516
016
418
020
720
915
114
914
814
814
915
6
Tota
l off
sho
re h
ou
rs w
ork
ed
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
Fixe
d6,
045,
187
5,48
9,33
85,
183,
438
5,55
3,05
36,
035,
719
7,22
0,69
17,
197,
149
7,35
9,36
05,
958,
080
5,46
8,07
15,
822,
613
6,35
5,84
39,
564,
692
Mo
bile
3,66
8,03
94,
511,
902
6,03
7,55
97,
441,
108
8,71
2,55
16,
191,
940
6,94
2,73
28,
323,
697
7,40
0,62
39,
375,
803
9,86
5,92
43,
427,
649
3,18
9,70
2
Tota
l9,
713,
226
10,0
01,2
4011
,220
,997
12,9
94,1
6114
,748
,270
13,4
12,6
3114
,139
,881
15,6
83,0
5713
,358
,703
14,8
43,8
7415
,688
,537
9,78
3,49
212
,754
,394
Appe
ndix
5 –
dat
a ta
bles
Appendices
50
Fixed active facilities by nearest state – 2017
State Facility Type Total %
VIC Pipeline 54 74.0%
Platform - NNA 9 12.3%
Platform - NA 9 12.3%
Other 1 1.4%
VIC Total 73 53.3%
WA Pipeline 27 50.0%
FPSO 10 18.5%
Platform - NNA 7 13.0%
Platform - NA 6 11.1%
Other 4 7.4%
WA Total 54 39.4%
WA Total 48 37.2
NT Pipeline 4 66.7%
Platform - NNA 1 16.7%
FPSO 1 16.7%
NT Total 6 4.4%
TAS Pipeline 2 50.0%
Platform - NNA 1 25.0%
Platform - NA 1 25.0%
TAS Total 4 2.9%
Grand Total 137 100.0
Seismic activities by nearest state – 2017
State Total %
WA 2 33.3
NT 4 66.7
Total 6 100
Appendices
51 NOPSEMA
ANNUAL OFFSHORE PERFORMANCE REPORT TO 31 DECEMBER 2017
2 Assessments and submissionsSubmissions by division – key permissioning documents*
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
OHS 103 130 124 168 147 111 196 142 91 96 109 76 109
WI 29 31 32 32 30 45 40
EM 103 119 75 44 32 41
PSZ 10 5 10 4 8 4
*Key permissioning documents include:
OHS: safety cases, diving safety management systems, pipeline safety management plans (from 2012 the requirement to submit Pipeline SMPs was superseded by the requirement for pipelines to have an accepted safety case).
WI: well operations management plans.
EM: environment plans and offshore project proposals.
PSZ: petroleum safety zone applications.
Appendix 5 – data table (Cont’d)
Appendices
52
All
sub
mis
sio
n t
ypes
Ass
essm
ent
typ
eS
ub
-typ
es20
0520
0620
0720
0820
0920
1020
1120
1220
1320
1420
1520
1620
17
Occ
up
atio
nal
h
ealt
h an
d
safe
ty
Saf
ety
case
sS
afet
y ca
se n
ew18
1221
2917
2625
2720
2827
1427
Saf
ety
case
rev
ised
6810
593
109
110
7415
110
669
6275
5976
Div
ing
Div
ing
pro
ject
pla
n14
91
00
00
00
00
02
Div
ing
SM
S n
ew0
02
26
56
51
02
03
Div
ing
SM
S r
evis
ed10
01
42
13
41
65
33
Div
ing
star
t-up
not
ice
00
00
00
023
2420
88
15
Oth
erP
ipel
ine
SM
P n
ew*
611
37
22
2N
/AN
/AN
/AN
/AN
/AN
/A
Pip
elin
e S
MP
rev
ised
*1
24
1710
39
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Pro
pos
ed p
ipel
ine
man
agem
ent p
lan*
01
05
11
0N
/AN
/AN
/AN
/AN
/AN
/A
Sco
pe
of v
alid
atio
n1
221
7846
5363
5545
4954
4454
Req
uest
for
exem
ptio
n0
02
21
00
00
00
00
Wel
l in
teg
rity
Wel
l op
erat
ions
m
anag
emen
t p
lans
WO
MP
new
2827
2623
2145
30
WO
MP
var
iatio
n1
46
99
010
Wel
l act
ivity
ap
plic
atio
n14
116
287
130
107
5934
Fina
l ab
and
onm
ent
rep
ort
00
00
06
28
Req
uest
to
Und
erta
ke a
Wel
l Act
ivity
in
a S
pec
ified
Man
ner
00
00
01
0
Env
iro
nm
enta
l m
anag
emen
tE
nviro
nmen
t p
lans
Env
ironm
ent
pla
n ne
w92
7957
3720
20
Env
ironm
ent
pla
n re
vise
d11
4018
711
20
Env
ironm
ent
pla
n su
mm
ary
00
00
2432
End
of a
n en
viro
nmen
t pla
n (R
eg 2
5A)
00
119
1594
Off
sho
re p
roje
ct p
rop
osal
s0
00
01
1
Pet
role
um
sa
fety
zo
nes
Saf
ety
zone
sP
SZ
ap
plic
atio
n ne
w7
310
21
3
PS
Z a
pp
licat
ion
varia
tion
32
02
71
PS
Z a
cces
s ap
plic
atio
n0
10
01
0
ATB
A a
cces
s ap
plic
atio
n5
50
110
2
Oth
erA
dvi
seR
egul
ator
y ad
vice
to
othe
r ag
enci
es5
105
41
06
618
5621
4539
Tota
l12
615
716
426
520
216
743
953
742
747
939
736
349
4
*Fro
m 2
012
the
req
uire
men
t to
sub
mit
Pip
elin
e S
MP
s w
as s
uper
sed
ed b
y th
e re
qui
rem
ent
for
pip
elin
es t
o ha
ve a
n ac
cep
ted
saf
ety
case
.
Appendices
53 NOPSEMA
ANNUAL OFFSHORE PERFORMANCE REPORT TO 31 DECEMBER 2017
2 As
sess
men
ts a
nd s
ubm
issi
ons
(con
t’d)
Ass
essm
ents
no
tifi
ed w
ith
in le
gis
late
d t
imef
ram
es –
key
per
mis
sio
nin
g d
ocu
men
ts
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
OH
S62
%51
%56
%52
%78
%84
%91
%99
%97
%10
0%97
%10
0%98
%
WI
96%
100%
100%
97%
100%
100%
100%
EM
99
%10
0%10
0%10
0%10
0%10
0%
PS
Z
100%
100%
100%
75%
100%
100%
Ass
essm
ents
no
t ac
cep
ted
* 2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
OH
S2.
4%3.
2%6.
1%10
.2%
12.0
%12
.5%
31.9
%30
.1%
22.0
%26
.7%
26.0
%24
.4%
18.2
%
WI
0.0%
3.6%
1.0%
1.7%
4.4%
3.7%
1.1%
EM
9.2%
5.0%
0.0%
3.9%
3.1%
6.1%
*No
te: b
ase
d o
n d
ate
of
co
mp
leti
on
. On
ly in
clu
de
s a
sse
ssm
en
ts t
ha
t h
ave
be
en
co
mp
lete
d (
exc
lud
es
tho
se in
pro
gre
ss a
nd
re
ca
lled
/ca
nc
elle
d).
Saf
ety
case
s b
y fa
cilit
y ty
pe 20
0520
0620
0720
0820
0920
1020
1120
1220
1320
1420
1520
1620
17
MO
DU
s31
4956
6862
3345
3921
2934
1518
Vess
els
2017
1219
2722
2523
2223
2619
30
Pip
elin
es2
951
1110
916
1113
Pla
tfor
ms
2737
3526
1319
4137
1820
1313
30
FPS
Os
76
618
1713
1320
137
1111
8
Oth
er1
85
76
41
35
22
44
No
te:
*th
ese
fig
ure
s re
fle
ct
on
ly t
ho
se S
afe
ty c
ase
s so
lely
fo
r p
ipe
line
s.
**
som
e p
latf
orm
Sa
fety
ca
ses
inc
lud
e p
ipe
line
fac
iliti
es.
Saf
ety
case
s re
ject
ed*
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
% r
ejec
ted
2.70
%3.
23%
6.31
%10
.69%
10.8
3%12
.50%
32.3
9%30
.46%
22.9
9%25
.26%
23.7
1%24
.00%
16.3
5%
*Not
e: B
ased
on
year
of c
om
ple
tion
(dec
isio
n d
ate)
. Sho
ws
reje
ctio
ns a
s a
pro
po
rtio
n o
f tot
al s
afet
y ca
ses
asse
ssed
and
co
mp
lete
d (
excl
udes
rec
alle
d/r
etur
ned
ass
essm
ents
).
Appe
ndix
5 –
dat
a ta
ble
(Con
t’d)
Appendices
54
Ave
rag
e sa
fety
cas
e as
sess
men
t ti
mef
ram
es (
day
s)*
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
New
8176
8011
097
162
243
9011
058
7986
86
Rev
isio
n45
4244
3639
5150
4542
4433
4344
*Not
e: b
ased
on
year
of s
ubm
issi
on.
Wel
l op
erat
ion
s m
anag
emen
t p
lan
s re
ject
ed
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
% r
ejec
ted
11.5
4%0.
00%
3.33
%9.
68%
3.45
%6.
45%
0.00
%
Ave
rag
e w
ell o
per
atio
ns
man
agem
ent
pla
n ti
mef
ram
es (
day
s)*
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
New
2322
3828
1542
51
Varia
tion
1517
2216
90
26
*Not
e: b
ased
on
year
of s
ubm
issi
on.
Su
bm
itte
d e
nvir
on
men
t p
lan
s –
acti
vity
typ
e
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
Con
stru
ctio
n7
132
10
2
Dec
omm
issi
onin
g1
01
02
0
Dril
ling
4231
238
59
Op
erat
ions
327
155
109
Oth
er17
2512
83
10
Sei
smic
3322
2222
1110
Env
iro
nm
ent
pla
ns
reje
cted
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
% r
ejec
ted
9.23
%4.
95%
0.00
%3.
92%
3.13
%6.
06%
Ave
rag
e en
viro
nm
ent
pla
n as
sess
men
t ti
mef
ram
es (
day
s)*
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
New
111
9810
513
914
711
9
Varia
tion
220
217
103
5215
111
1
*Not
e: b
ased
on
year
of s
ubm
issi
on.
Appendices
55 NOPSEMA
ANNUAL OFFSHORE PERFORMANCE REPORT TO 31 DECEMBER 2017
Appe
ndix
5 –
dat
a ta
ble
(Con
t’d)
3 In
cide
nts
Tota
l acc
iden
ts
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
Acc
iden
ts21
3432
4741
4329
2113
912
410
Acc
iden
ts b
y fa
cilit
y ty
pe
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
FPS
Os
610
36
610
27
23
30
2
MO
DU
s6
1214
2312
1612
48
13
24
Oth
er1
02
30
00
00
00
00
Pip
elin
es0
00
00
00
00
10
00
Pla
tfor
ms
610
64
712
77
31
22
3
Vess
els
22
711
165
83
01
40
1
Acc
iden
ts b
asic
cau
ses
- O
HS
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
Des
ign
23%
20%
8%0%
29%
Wor
k D
irect
ion
25%
17%
16%
67%
24%
Pro
ced
ures
18%
20%
20%
0%18
%M
anag
emen
t S
yste
ms
- p
eop
le5%
0%8%
0%12
%H
uman
Eng
inee
ring
10%
17%
32%
17%
6%Tr
aini
ng0%
0%0%
17%
6%To
lera
ble
failu
re0%
0%0%
0%6%
Pre
vent
ive
Mai
nten
ance
5%0%
8%0%
0%
Tota
l dan
ger
ou
s o
ccu
rren
ces 20
0520
0620
0720
0820
0920
1020
1120
1220
1320
1420
1520
1620
17
Dan
gero
us o
ccur
renc
es13
317
323
135
730
734
630
538
335
634
836
430
329
3
Appendices
56
Dan
ger
ou
s o
ccu
rren
ces
by
faci
lity
typ
e
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
FPS
Os
3329
6814
610
516
112
317
216
716
819
416
115
7
MO
DU
s50
6374
8463
5337
5365
5350
2520
Oth
er7
85
76
98
00
00
91
Pip
elin
es0
11
00
02
02
23
11
Pla
tfor
ms
3267
7510
580
111
113
145
120
110
9710
110
2
Vess
els
115
815
5312
2313
215
206
11
N/A
00
00
00
00
00
00
1
Dan
ger
ou
s o
ccu
rren
ces
bas
ic c
ause
s -
OH
S
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
Des
ign
28%
21%
13%
18%
20%
Tole
rab
le fa
ilure
2%5%
9%4%
15%
Pre
vent
ive
mai
nten
ance
13%
15%
21%
19%
14%
Pro
ced
ures
12%
14%
16%
14%
12%
Man
agem
ent
syst
ems
- p
eop
le8%
5%4%
6%8%
N/A
or
Non
e7%
7%6%
7%7%
Eq
uip
men
t p
arts
/def
ects
6%10
%16
%14
%6%
Wor
k d
irect
ion
5%5%
3%4%
6%
Hum
an e
ngin
eerin
g9%
11%
6%9%
4%
OH
S H
ydro
carb
on
rele
ases
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
Unc
ontr
olle
d H
C r
elea
se >
1-3
00kg
1114
2118
1522
1813
1920
1216
18
Unc
ontr
olle
d H
C r
elea
se >
300
kg
14
13
53
23
03
23
1
Unc
ontr
olle
d P
L re
leas
e >
80
-12
500
L0
16
23
78
11
24
46
Unc
ontr
olle
d P
L re
leas
e >
12
500
L0
00
01
00
00
00
00
Appendices
57 NOPSEMA
ANNUAL OFFSHORE PERFORMANCE REPORT TO 31 DECEMBER 2017
3 In
cide
nts
(con
t’d)
Hyd
roca
rbo
n re
leas
es b
asic
cau
ses
– O
HS
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
Pre
vent
ive
mai
nten
ance
20%
13%
17%
25%
36%
Des
ign
33%
37%
17%
28%
33%
Man
agem
ent
syst
ems
- p
eop
le10
%10
%9%
9%12
%
Pro
ced
ures
13%
13%
13%
22%
3%
Eq
uip
men
t p
arts
/def
ects
5%4%
17%
6%3%
Qua
lity
cont
rol
3%0%
4%0%
3%
Tole
rab
le fa
ilure
10%
6%17
%3%
3%
N/A
or
Non
e0%
2%0%
3%3%
Tota
l OH
S g
as r
elea
ses
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
Aus
tral
ia -
rat
e p
er 1
00 m
illio
n B
OE
4.14
7.18
10.0
67.
867.
478.
776.
794.
935.
977.
013.
904.
683.
71
IRF
Cou
ntrie
s* -
rat
e p
er 1
00 m
illio
n B
OE
2.80
4.61
3.36
2.50
3.24
3.26
3.51
3.51
3.89
5.90
7.50
5.90
N/A
*Exc
lud
es
the
US
as
they
do
no
t re
po
rt h
ydro
ca
rbo
n re
lea
ses
Rep
ort
able
env
iro
nm
enta
l in
cid
ents
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
Hyd
roca
rbon
vap
our
/ p
etro
leum
flu
id r
elea
se2
613
85
7
Che
mic
al r
elea
se6
148
20
3
Faun
a in
cid
ent
45
10
21
Dril
ling
fluid
/ m
ud r
elea
se5
40
00
0
Oth
er0
20
21
1
Tota
l17
3122
138
12
Appe
ndix
5 –
dat
a ta
ble
(Con
t’d)
Appendices
58
Tota
l rec
ord
able
cas
es
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
Fata
litie
s0
00
10
00
20
00
00
Maj
or in
jurie
s8
57
1212
98
52
25
04
Lost
tim
e in
jurie
s >
= 3
day
s17
2621
2931
3220
1613
57
46
Lost
tim
e in
jurie
s <
3 d
ays
913
36
53
63
02
23
1
Med
ical
tre
atm
ent
inju
ries
7958
6189
3961
4736
2620
4422
30
Alte
rnat
ive
dut
ies
inju
ries
1421
5853
2847
3743
2826
3024
11
Tota
l12
712
315
019
011
515
211
810
569
5588
5352
Inju
ry r
ates
by
faci
lity
typ
e
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
FPS
Os
18.2
020
.97
11.8
412
.01
10.5
416
.32
9.80
8.74
6.42
6.66
4.83
6.73
4.09
MO
DU
s11
.81
14.2
614
.55
16.4
47.
7810
.15
10.7
66.
235.
513.
683.
242.
642.
93
Oth
er8.
3621
.02
20.6
015
.54
5.71
13.2
814
.26
25.2
59.
572.
4013
.72
21.3
00.
00
Pip
elin
es0.
000.
000.
000.
000.
000.
000.
000.
000.
001.
610.
000.
005.
05
Pla
tfor
ms
12.7
98.
5313
.09
10.0
86.
819.
145.
046.
235.
475.
467.
396.
465.
01
Vess
els
13.4
35.
249.
3718
.88
7.84
13.4
48.
305.
072.
341.
906.
135.
182.
02
Tota
l rec
ord
able
cas
es –
nat
ure
of
inju
ry
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
Wou
nds
and
am
put
atio
ns31
.9%
45.5
%36
.4%
43.4
%42
.3%
Trau
mat
ic jo
int
and
mus
cle
inju
ries
30.4
%21
.8%
19.3
%26
.4%
38.4
%
Frac
ture
s11
.6%
9.1%
9.1%
9.4%
7.7%
Mus
culo
skel
etal
, sys
tem
ic a
nd in
fect
ious
dis
ease
s7.
3%9.
1%22
.7%
13.2
%5.
8%
Uns
pec
ified
17.4
%12
.7%
8.0%
5.7%
5.8%
Sp
inal
, int
racr
ania
l and
ner
vous
sys
tem
inju
ries
0.0%
0.0%
4.5%
1.9%
0.0%
Bur
ns1.
4%1.
8%0.
0%0.
0%0.
0%
Tota
l10
0.0%
100.
0%10
0.0%
100.
0%10
0.0%
4 Fa
talit
ies
and
inju
ries
Appendices
59 NOPSEMA
ANNUAL OFFSHORE PERFORMANCE REPORT TO 31 DECEMBER 2017
4 Fa
talit
ies
and
inju
ries
(con
t’d)
Tota
l rec
ord
able
cas
es –
loca
tio
n o
f in
jury
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
Up
per
lim
bs
36.2
%47
.3%
31.8
%45
.3%
38.5
%Lo
wer
lim
bs
27.5
%21
.8%
19.3
%22
.7%
26.9
%H
ead
and
nec
k20
.3%
16.4
%29
.6%
17.0
%15
.4%
Trun
k1.
5%9.
1%3.
4%7.
5%13
.4%
Bac
k (u
pp
er a
nd lo
wer
)7.
2%3.
6%12
.5%
7.5%
5.8%
Sys
tem
ic1.
5%0.
0%2.
3%0.
0%0.
0%U
nsp
ecifi
ed5.
8%1.
8%1.
1%0.
0%0.
0%To
tal
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
Tota
l rec
ord
able
cas
es –
mec
han
ism
of
inci
den
t
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
Hitt
ing
obje
cts
21.7
%14
.5%
19.3
%26
.4%
26.9
%B
od
y st
ress
ing
14.5
%14
.5%
15.9
%20
.8%
26.9
%H
it b
y m
ovin
g ob
ject
s44
.9%
45.5
%31
.8%
32.1
%25
.0%
Falls
, trip
s, s
lips
7.2%
7.3%
6.8%
5.6%
17.4
%C
hem
ical
s an
d o
ther
sub
stan
ces
1.5%
3.7%
17.1
%7.
5%1.
9%U
nsp
ecifi
ed (i
ncl.
othe
r, m
ultip
le)
8.7%
10.9
%1.
1%3.
8%1.
9%H
eat,
ele
ctric
ity, e
nviro
nmen
tal
1.5%
3.6%
8.0%
3.8%
0.0%
Tota
l10
0%10
0%10
0%10
0%10
0%
Tota
l rec
ord
able
cas
es –
ag
ency
of
inju
ry
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
Non
-pow
ered
eq
uip
men
t44
.9%
47.3
%47
.7%
43.3
%53
.8%
Mac
hine
ry /
fixe
d p
lant
20.3
%23
.7%
14.8
%32
.1%
13.5
%P
ower
ed e
qui
pm
ent
2.9%
3.6%
9.1%
1.9%
11.5
%U
nsp
ecifi
ed13
.0%
10.9
%0.
0%3.
8%9.
6%M
obile
pla
nt /
tra
nsp
ort
0.0%
3.6%
1.1%
3.8%
5.8%
Che
mic
als
and
oth
er s
ubst
ance
s18
.9%
7.3%
25.0
%13
.2%
3.9%
Env
ironm
enta
l and
bio
logi
cal a
genc
ies
0.0%
3.6%
2.3%
1.9%
1.9%
Tota
l10
0%10
0%10
0%10
0%10
0%
Appe
ndix
5 –
dat
a ta
ble
(Con
t’d)
Appendices
60
Co
mp
lain
ts
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
OH
S c
omp
lain
ts29
3522
2512
1523
56
33
18
EM
com
pla
ints
04
22
10
Tota
l29
3522
2512
1523
510
55
28
6 In
spec
tions
In
spec
tio
ns
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
OH
S72
6385
9085
9295
8898
111
114
9393
Wel
l int
egrit
y
0
45
512
68
Env
ironm
ent
7
2330
6944
44
7 En
forc
emen
tsE
nfo
rcem
ents
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
OH
S30
2737
6656
2597
6036
2534
336
Wel
l int
egrit
y0
01
00
00
Env
ironm
ent
943
14
516
Oth
er0
00
02
1
Tota
l30
2737
6656
2597
6980
2638
1053
Exc
lud
es v
erb
al w
arni
ngs/
advi
ce a
nd in
vest
igat
ion
notic
es.
5 Co
mpl
aint
s
Appendices
61 NOPSEMA
ANNUAL OFFSHORE PERFORMANCE REPORT TO 31 DECEMBER 2017
6 En
forc
emen
ts (c
ont’d
)O
HS
en
forc
emen
ts b
y fa
cilit
y ty
pe
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
FPS
Os
105
713
158
377
88
00
5
MO
DU
s6
611
329
55
1813
58
08
N/A
32
40
40
30
02
00
3
Oth
er0
31
32
32
63
12
03
Pip
elin
es0
00
00
06
220
00
00
Pla
tfor
ms
611
1113
56
286
91
172
16
Vess
els
50
37
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2005
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2007
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2015
2016
2017
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Appendices
62
Glossary – acronyms and common terms
Term Definition
Activity or petroleum activity
As defined in the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Environment) Regulations 2009
ADI Alternative duties injuries
ALARP As low as reasonably practicable. A principle that provides a means for assessing the tolerability of risk
API STD 53 American Petroleum Institute Standard 53
ATBA Area to be avoided
Blowout An uncontrolled release of hydrocarbons from a well
BOP Blow out preventer
Dangerous occurrence
See definition in clause 82 of Schedule 3 to the Offshore Petroleum Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006
DISC Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association drilling industry steering group
DPP Diving project plan
DSMS Diving safety management system
Duty holders Parties with legislative responsibilities under the Offshore Petroleum Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006
EM Environmental management
EP Environment plan
HAZOP Hazard and operability study
HC Hydrocarbon(s): organic compounds of carbon and hydrogen
HSR Health and safety representative
IADC International Association of Drilling Contractors
Improvement notice A notice issued to the operator of a facility requiring action to prevent any further contravention or likely contravention of listed OHS law
IMS Invasive marine species
IRF International Regulators’ Forum Global Offshore Safety
LTI Lost time injury
MAE Major accident event
Mechanism of incident or injury
A classification that captures the overall action, exposure or event that best describes the circumstances that resulted in the incident or injury.
MTI Medical treatment injuries
N/A Not applicable
NOPSA NOPSA National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority (NOPSEMA superseded NOPSA on 1 January 2012)
NOPSEMA NOPSEMA National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority
NOPTA NOPTA National Offshore Petroleum Titles Administrator
NT Northern Territory
OHS Occupational health and safety
Appendices
63 NOPSEMA
ANNUAL OFFSHORE PERFORMANCE REPORT TO 31 DECEMBER 2017
Term Definition
Operator Operator In relation to a facility or proposed facility, the person who, under the Regulations, is registered by NOPSEMA as the operator of that facility or proposed facility (as defined in Clause 5 of Schedule 3 of the OPGGS Act)
OPGGS Act Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006OPP Offshore project proposal
Personal safety A category of risk management focusing on injuries such as slips, trips, falls, ‘struck-by’ incidents and strains. Personal safety programs place an emphasis on personal behaviour and the wearing of personal protective equipment
Performance standard
Are the parameters against which control measures for MAEs are assessed to ensure they reduce the risks to ALARP on an on-going basis
Pipeline Pipeline See “Facility”
Process safety A category of risk management focusing on the prevention of uncontrolled releases of hydrocarbons, chemicals, energy, or other potentially dangerous materials (including steam) during the course of facility processes and which can cause major accident events; Process safety involves, for example, the prevention of leaks, spills, equipment malfunction, overpressures, over-temperatures, corrosion, metal fatigue and other similar conditions; process safety programs focus on design of facilities, maintenance of equipment, alarms, effective control points, procedures and training
Prohibition notice A notice issued to the operator of a facility in order to remove an immediate threat to the health or safety of any person
PSMP Pipeline safety management plan. A plan for managing OHS risks to personnel at or near pipeline facilities
PSZ Petroleum safety zone
QA Quality assurance
QC Quality check
Risk assessment The purpose of a risk assessment is to provide the operator of a facility with a detailed understanding of all aspects of the risks to people that may arise at or near the facility.
ROV Remotely operated vehicle
SC Safety case: a document prepared and submitted by an operator of a facility to NOPSEMA that identifies the hazards and risks at the facility, describes how the risks are controlled and the health and safety management systems which are in place to ensure that the controls are effectively and consistently applied
SCAP Safety case administration procedure
SMP Safety management plan
SMS Safety management system
TapRoot® A classification system for root cause analysis
Titleholder The permittee of a petroleum exploration permit, the lessee of a petroleum retention lease, or the licensee of a petroleum production licence (as defined in subsection 51 and 572(1) of the Offshore Petroleum Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006
TOOCS Type of occurrence classification system
TPE Third party equipment
TRC Total recordable cases
Glossary – acronyms and common terms
Appendices
64
Term Definition
Wellhead A general term used to describe the component at the surface of an oil or gas well that provides the structural and pressure-containing interface for the drilling and production equipment
WI Well integrity
WOMP Well operations management plan: a document that the titleholder must submit which should specify acceptable methods of conducting well operations in accordance with sound engineering principles and good oilfield practice
TapRoot® A classification system for root cause analysis
Titleholder The permittee of a petroleum exploration permit, the lessee of a petroleum retention lease, or the licensee of a petroleum production licence (as defined in subsection 51 and 572(1) of the Offshore Petroleum Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006
TOOCS Type of occurrence classification system
TRC Total recordable cases
Wellhead A general term used to describe the component at the surface of an oil or gas well that provides the structural and pressure-containing interface for the drilling and production equipment
WI Well integrity
WOMP Well operations management plan - A document that the titleholder must submit which should specify acceptable methods of conducting well operations in accordance with sound engineering principles and good oilfield practice
The following categories of facilities are recognised within the legislation:
Facility A vessel, structure or pipeline at which offshore petroleum operations are being performed – defined in Clause 4 of Schedule 3 to the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006
Accommodation, construction and pipelay vessel
A maritime vessel used in the construction of subsea infrastructure
Floating production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO)
Similar in appearance to an oil tanker and carries production and processing facilities, with the addition of storage tanks for the crude oil recovered from the wells
Floating storage and offloading vessel (FSO)
Similar to an FPSO with reduced production and processing facilities
Large production platform
A large scale production facility, which can be a floating or fixed marine vessel (conducting specific activities at a location)
Mobile offshore drilling unit (MODU)
An offshore facility (capable of independent navigation) used for drilling or servicing a well for petroleum
Pipeline A pipe or system of pipes in an offshore area used for conveying petroleum (whether or not the petroleum is recovered from an offshore area)
Production platform (with drilling or no drilling, can be attended (manned) or not normally attended (unmanned))
A platform from which development wells are drilled that also houses processing plant and other equipment
Appendices
65 NOPSEMA
ANNUAL OFFSHORE PERFORMANCE REPORT TO 31 DECEMBER 2017
Standards Australia 1990, Workplace Injury and disease recoding standard, Australian Standard AS1885-1. 1-1990
LegislationOffshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 (Cth.) (No 14) 2006 as amended.
Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Environment) Regulations 2009 (Cth.) Statutory Rules 1999 (No. 228) as amended and made under the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006.
Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Safety) Regulations 2009 (Cth.) Select Legislative Instrument 2009 (No. 382) as amended and made under the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006.
Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Resource Management and Administration) Regulations 2011.
Regulatory Levies Act 2003. Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Regulatory Levies) Act 2003 (Cth.) (No. 117) of 2003 as amended.
Regulatory Levies Regulations 2004. Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Regulatory Levies) Regulations 2004 (Cth.) Statutory Rules 2004 (No. 315) made under the Offshore Petroleum (Regulatory Levies) Act 2003.
References
Appendices
66
NOPSEMA expects strong and sustained leadership from industry to continue improving safety and environmental outcomes in all areas of its operations.
National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA)ABN 22 385 178 289
Head Office, PerthLevel 8, 58 Mounts Bay Road, Perth WA 6000 GPO Box 2568, PERTH WA 6001
phone: +61 8 6188 8700 fax: +61 8 6188 8737 email: [email protected]